KOHAT: The railcar service between Kohat and Rawalpindi that had been suspended six times since 1985 has been restored at a cost of Rs520 million.

A jubilant crowd was waiting for the railcar, which reached Kohat with new coaches after suspension since May 2013. The engineers checked the whole track. They also inspected arrangements at the station and declared it safe.

The repair of the track and renovation of the railway station with computerised system had been completed. `The regular single trip on trial basis might take a month till full-fledged operation,` said Moeen Gul, the station master.

He said that the railcar would reachRawalpindi at 10am in morning and leave for Kohat at 9pm at night. It would facilitate the passengers, especially businessmen, who opt for single day visit to Rawalpindi.

The service would also provide cheap and comfortable mode of travelling to the people of Kurram Agency, Orakzai Agency, Hangu, Karak, Bannu and Thall. The winter and summer timing would vary.

The expected one side fare would be Rs160 against that of the road coaster of Rs250. `The fare would be finally fixed keeping in view the expenses and profit margin,` said Mr Gul.

People from different walks of life thronged the railway station to see restoration of the service. The railcar reached Kohat in the afternoon carrying only the railway engineers and some of ficials.

They were garlanded and welcomed on the drumbeat. The delighted people danced to celebrate the event.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had promised restoration of the railcar service in May 2017 but due to some technical problems and incomplete work on the railway station it was delayed. The service was suspended because of the shaky track between Jand andKohat. However, the goods train operated regularly three days a week for transporting sleepers to other parts of the country from the Kohat factory since 2013 on the same track.

DROWN: Two persons drowned in Tanda Lake while taking bath in deep water on Monday.

Police said that Riaz Bangash and Hafeez Shoaib, both cousins, had come to Kohat on picnic. During playing, they slipped into the deep water. Their bodies were retrieved after four hours and handed over to their relatives. They were buried in Hangu.

Meanwhile, police foiled three different smuggling attempts and seized more than 22 kilograms of hashish on Monday.

In the first incident, police during checking at Hangu Pathak stopped a couple coming on motorcycle and recovered 14 kilograms of hashish from the woman. The suspects were identified as Safia and Inayatullah.

Similarly, police arrested a rickshaw river Mohammad Hashim and recovered five kilograms of hashish f rom him.

In another incident, police raided a room in a plaza in the city and booked Zaidan Khan for keeping more than three kilograms of hashish.