If you can't, let Lalu Yadav run the railways: a Pak request

Islamabad, November 17: A Pakistani lawmaker surprised his colleagues on Friday by suggesting that the country's railways should be handed over to former Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, if the government was unable to tackle the state-run entity's numerous problems.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Sajid Ahmed made the suggestion in the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament while Parliamentary Secretary for Railways Noman Islam Sheikh was answering questions about the performance of the railways.

Mr Yadav is widely credited for guiding the turnaround of the Indian Railways.

Pakistan Railway has been plagued by several problems over the past few years, including the lack of locomotives, shortage of spare parts and fuel and the cancellation of dozens of trains due to lack of financial resources.

Mr Sheikh said new locomotives would have to be purchased for reviving the railways and making it a profitable organisation.

He said the Railways Ministry had floated a tender for purchasing 69 new locomotives.

All non-productive expenses had been stopped and expenditures were being incurred in line with available resources, he said.

The Pakistan Railways had received only Rs. 6 billion out of a total bailout package of Rs. 11 billion for 2010-2011.

A separate programme had been drawn up for repairing 96 locomotives with a loan from the National Bank of Pakistan.

Mr Sheikh further said there was no proposal being considered for privatising the railways.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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