Railways to increase fares from July 1: Sheikh Rashid

LAHORE: Pakistan Railways Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Saturday said that fares of economy class would be increased up to Rs 100, by 6 to 7 percent for other classes from July 1 in wake of the recent oil price hike.Addressing a press conference at PR Headquarters here, the minister said that rail fares would be revised as PR had to face additional burden of Rs 3 billion owing to an increase in oil prices in international market, adding that no fare would be increased for traveling less than 50 kilometers.Sheikh Rashid said that PC-1 of Main Line-1 (ML-1) had been submitted, whereas Chinese were asked to build new apartments for PR employees working on ML-1 where about 70,000 PR employees would be facilitated. All-out efforts were made for the welfare of PR employees and ensuring maximum improvement in the department, he maintained.