With continuous hikes in petrol prices and dearth of good transport facilities that are comfortable, clean, and economically reasonable, travelling to another city within Pakistan can be a hassle.
We spoke to Omer Khan, a passenger who recently travelled from Lahore to Islamabad on the Green Line train.
Khan claims to have had a very pleasant experience.
In a four hour journey, he was served two samosas and “excellent” chai which can be ordered as many times as one wants.
He said that there were only a few other passengers, probably owing to ticket price of Rs 3250 for one way. However, as Khan stated, it is still way cheaper than travelling from one’s own car as the petrol will now cost between Rs 25,000 to 30,000.
The seats are said to be comfortable and rotatable. Additionally, functional sockets with charging ports are available.
Most importantly, the train and its bathrooms are clean, and Khan hopes that the standard will be maintained because often times, the standard of facilities decline.
Green Line train was first inaugurated by Nawz Sharif in 2015, operating between Karachi and Islamabad. It reportedly only stops at main train stations.
In 2022, however, the train operation was suspended following floods that drowned train tracks. On November 28, 2022, China Railway Construction Corporation delivered 46 high-speed coaches to Pakistan Railways in accordance with an agreement signed in 2021.
This year in January, the-then Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reinaugurated Green Line Express train service.
Travelling between Islamabad and Karachi, it starts its journey from Margalla station and stops at Rawalpindi, Chaklala, Lahore, Khanewal, Bahawalpur, Rohri, Hyderabad and Drug Road on the way.
