By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways is increasing ticket prices across passenger classes and freight services by as much as 20 percent starting March 9, passing on part of the pain from the government’s largest-ever fuel-price increase triggered by the spillover of fighting in the Middle East.
Economy-class fares will rise 5 percent while all air-conditioned categories will go up 10 percent, spokesman Babar Ali said Saturday. Freight-train charges are being hiked a full 20 percent to match the jump in diesel costs. The railways will absorb a portion of the added expense on passenger services to cushion commuters, Ali said, calling the adjustments “inevitable” given the sharp rise in fuel expenditures.
Advance bookings already made will be honored at the old rates, he added. The new fares take effect Monday. The move comes one day after the government raised retail petrol and high-speed diesel prices by Rs55 a liter each — the steepest single increase in Pakistan’s history — pushing the country into the first direct economic fallout from the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Petrol now costs Rs321.17 a liter, up from Rs266.17. Diesel climbed to Rs335.86 from Rs280.86. The ex-depot prices took effect at midnight Friday, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. Dar linked the surge directly to the widening regional conflict. “The war between Iran, the US, and Israel has now spilled over,” he told reporters. “In this scenario, petroleum product prices are rising sharply. Various products have seen an increase of around 50 to 70 percent.” Many countries, he noted, are automatically passing higher global oil costs through to domestic pump prices.
Pakistan, which imports nearly all its fuel and relies heavily on shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, is particularly exposed. Tehran’s announcement that it would close the critical waterway after the US-Israeli strikes has rattled global supply routes and sent international oil-product prices soaring.
The government also lifted jet-fuel prices by Rs154 a liter to a record Rs342.37 from Rs188.93 — an 82 percent jump — one of the largest aviation-fuel increases in years. That move is expected to push commercial airfares higher by as much as Rs5,000 on some routes as airlines face sharply elevated operating costs.
To blunt the supply risk, Petroleum Minister Malik has asked Saudi Arabia to open an alternative import channel through its Red Sea port of Yanbu. Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki assured Islamabad that fuel could be routed through the facility. With diesel accounting for the bulk of Pakistan Railways’ operating expenses, officials said they had little choice but to adjust tariffs even while shielding ordinary passengers from the full hit. The freight increase, by contrast, will be passed through entirely to shippers.
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