Pakistan, July 7 -- Railways Minister Muhammad Hanif Abbasi said on Monday that Pakistan Railways had achieved a historic financial turnaround by earning Rs 115 billion and posting its first profit in the institution's 78-year history, attributing the achievement to improved governance, better utilization of rolling stock and reforms in freight and passenger operations.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said that Pakistan Railways had earned a record Rs41 billion from freight operations, while the outsourcing of five passenger trains to the private sector had generated Rs 3 billion in revenue. Encouraged by the results, the government planned to privatize additional train services, he added.

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