Lahore to Karachi by Business Express

[docebzz]

excellent thread and thanks for sharing.

The problem in Pakistan is they start good thing ( like this train ) but the main thing is to maintain the standards. I hope they can keep it up.

[haa0518]

Finally some good condition train. I went to Karachi in 2011, the condition was very pathetic

i also went to lahore via train when i was a child and the condition of the train was so bad that i though i am going by walking i took shower 2 times and still i didn't feel clean the lights were going on and off. the train was delayed for more than 4 hours and what not but now its all good with this service.

i heard that this train is closed after few days of launching ? is it true ?

one of my friends went to lahore via karachi through this train and the train is functional. you can go to Pak Business Express | World Class Traveling from Lahore-Karachi-Lahore for more info and you can also find their contact number there..

excellent thread and thanks for sharing.

The problem in Pakistan is they start good thing ( like this train ) but the main thing is to maintain the standards. I hope they can keep it up.

yes it is very hard to maintain these standards because no matter how hard the staff work, if the people will not take care of the carriages nothing will happen. it is people who spoil these carriages not the staff. the staff spoil it by no cleaning/maintaining which again goes to the government for not paying their salaries :-#

[affan555]

o pai jan! cant wait,,,,,,,,upload all the pics plz,,,,,

[haa0518]

the dinner was served at sharp 08:30pm. i think the time chosen was fine because the breakfast was scheduled to be served at 7:30am-08:00am.
by 08:30pm we all were starving and wanted to have the dinner badly. but sabar ka phal meetha.. the dinner was very nice, prepared by PC and Marriott.
On the menu was Chicken Karhai, Lentils, Pulao Rice, Nan with Soft drinks, salads (tomato and cucumber only) and custard as a dessert. the custard did the trick after the food because i felt i wanted to eat more after the meal but when i ate the dessert that was it then. no more food required.
the taste was fine and it was enough because while travelling a person shall eat less. however i still feel that the quantity of the rice was very less and i didn't have enough of it so overall very nice food served. the food was not hot but it was in warm condition. also i would like to mention that the food was properly packed and served in a mannerly way.
but there was no extra food if anyone wanted, not even if you are ready to pay. they take on board counted quantity, i think they shall take some extra for people like me lol

[haa0518]

after starving for so long. we were a little tired and wanted to have some rest and as soon as we had our dinners we all were ready to sleep. all the bed sheets were spread and all the pillows and blankets were ready to be used and you can see my fellow passengers lying straight after having their food the cabin temperature was nice in the starting but had some problems later on which i will explain shortly.

i couldn't sleep because of the humidity in the room. there was no ventilation system in the room which i think is a must so the only was to regulate the air is to keep the door open. i opened the door for a while and then waited for the room to get fresh. these blankets which can be seen in the picture were also provided by pak business express and i think these are provided at a cost in karakoram express. my seat was the lowest one its a brotherly advise never take the lower seat because you will feel you are being suffocated. actually i didn't knew about this and i took the lower seat. the best berth is the middle one and the top one.

water dispensers were also there. again a very good idea and excellent service provided by the company.

the number of the cabin

[affan555]

food luks yummy!!!!

[haa0518]

this is the area where people can smoke and where the entry/exit doors of the carriages are. very neat and clean.

[haa0518]

the train stopped at some station for a while where i took these pictures. no passenger was allowed to leave the train before the destination arrived. however some passengers can get of at some stations if they have the permission from the company. they have to inform in advance that they need to get off at the designated stops however there will be no reduction in fares.

[haa0518]

Apart from the pak business express all the four trains which are mentioned on the board are late. and not just late but too late. i don't know what the reasons are for their delays but this shall not happen. Pakistan Railways need to improve and change its image in the eyes of its customers.

[haa0518]

The sockets worked perfectly fine. it was time to charge my phone and my digital camera's battery. i charged them just in case. i like to keep things charged because you never know. so its better to keep them charged. the train is safe and secure because i kept my phone on charging and then i slept and when i woke up the phone was there. actually what i did it what i kept the phone under the blanket and under my feet lol

[engineermali]

zabardast

[haa0518]

took this picture in the middle of the night. the moon looked very beautiful and spread its light everywhere. the light of the moon was a lot and could not be seen in the picture.

[Mistero]

Excellent coverage...I was actually looking all over the net for a review on this...used to travel a lot by train as a kid...my father used to hate flying...maximum he could stand was for an hour and a half...imagine how we got him onto a plane for a 16 plus hour flight when he was immigrating to the states... well getting back to the point...his other view point was that on any vacation abroad or domestic...one should travel between destinations by rail as you get to see the country in its true form...you see changing topography, change of cultures and basically all those things in real life which you see on a map...planes as per him should only used for returns to your origination point...

and I was pretty disappointed that due to horrible PR set up I was unable to do this exercise with my sons...and now thanks to this business express...it is now very much possible...

Although just one observation...I just wished that they should not have re-furbished the rail cars from Karakoram express, but rather the ones from tez gam and khyber mail...because their compartments were bigger...the berths were like awesome beds and every compartment had its own private bathroom...man I miss those....waisey wouldn't mind paying 2 grand extra per seat for a compartment that size....

Plus getting off at those remote stations in the middle of the night and breathing the fresh air from rural Pakistan (you can actually smell the crops and the fields) was a treat of its own...or making a dash to get some doodh pati in that 10 min little stop at a remote station at 2 in the morning....wah yaar maza hee alug tha...damn I feel sad that they don't allow getting off at stations...

[haa0518]

Excellent coverage...I was actually looking all over the net for a review on this...used to travel a lot by train as a kid...my father used to hate flying...maximum he could stand was for an hour and a half...imagine how we got him onto a plane for a 16 plus hour flight when he was immigrating to the states... well getting back to the point...his other view point was that on any vacation abroad or domestic...one should travel between destinations by rail as you get to see the country in its true form...you see changing topography, change of cultures and basically all those things in real life which you see on a map...planes as per him should only used for returns to your origination point...

and I was pretty disappointed that due to horrible PR set up I was unable to do this exercise with my sons...and now thanks to this business express...it is now very much possible...

Although just one observation...I just wished that they should not have re-furbished the rail cars from Karakoram express, but rather the ones from tez gam and khyber mail...because their compartments were bigger...the berths were like awesome beds and every compartment had its own private bathroom...man I miss those....waisey wouldn't mind paying 2 grand extra per seat for a compartment that size....

Plus getting off at those remote stations in the middle of the night and breathing the fresh air from rural Pakistan (you can actually smell the crops and the fields) was a treat of its own...or making a dash to get some doodh pati in that 10 min little stop at a remote station at 2 in the morning....wah yaar maza hee alug tha...damn I feel sad that they don't allow getting off at stations...

thank you for liking the pictures and the thread. even i believe the same thing that when travelling domestically a person shall use either the road or by train because by aeroplanes you miss everything. you get on from point A and get off at point B missing what comes in between the two points. but by train and by road you actually go through point A to point B which is the best thing. again a very good point about the culture, yes culture of sindh and culture of punjab very different. infact the life in a city and live in a village again a huge difference.

getting of at remote locations and having tea is a very good idea but because of security they are not allowing. i think it is good because times have changed now. gone are the times when there were no robbers or very few. and offcourse if you want to get off at stations and enjoy everything you can travel via karakoram express i don't know much about trains here in Pakistan so i won't comment on the carriages but yes you are correct that the carriages can be improved and these present ones are quite congested.

only if i had a license i would have gone by road... if anyone of you is travelling by road to lahore.. let me know. even you @mistero.. lets go to lahore in the coming week/s for 3-4 days..

[haa0518]

after taking the picture of the moon i slept. and then when i woke up the sun spread its light everywhere and i could see everything clearly. we were in sindh and i could see villages and few farms.

villages of sindh

this seemed to be a poultry farm to me because there were many poultry farms in the interior but the funny thing is that i did not see the chickens :-# i wonder where they were.

East Cabin at the Kotri Junction.

saw this maintenance vehicle of the railway tracks. again this seems to be pretty old and outdated but still working for us

Kotri station

[haa0518]

an empty train carriage at Kotri Station

a goods train carriage.

[haa0518]

a man's best friend waiting for a train at the platform of Kotri Junction while few of the men are enjoying tea near the shop :D:D burst into laughter when i saw this

few more, having a good time at the platform. :D:D

[chinyoti]

Wow, seems great, Im some how not comfortable with travelling with other people bit for a family of 6 one can get a entire cabin, My last trip was on Millat express to faislabad from karachi, the trip was gud but delays ouch, and was shivering cold at night, fortunatly my mum gave me a small blanky, was better then nothing

Were the blankets provided?

[haa0518]

Wow, seems great, Im some how not comfortable with travelling with other people bit for a family of 6 one can get a entire cabin, My last trip was on Millat express to faislabad from karachi, the trip was gud but delays ouch, and was shivering cold at night, fortunatly my mum gave me a small blanky, was better then nothing

Were the blankets provided?

i think if a person is travelling alone then you don't have any choice apart from travelling with 5 other people.. but i tell you that people were good and well mannered. and you just have to pass time with them have a debate on something it all will happen automatically this train does not have delays and is very fast. i know it can be cold at night because of interior and open areas but trust me you will not know anything of outside. it is fully packed.
yes, everything was provided by them. i just paid PKR 5,000 apart from this they gave everything. food, pillow, berth sheet, breakfast, tea, soft drinks, blankets, mineral water lol
you should try it.. try to go with friends and you will surely enjoy it..

[chinyoti]

^ I will sure, inshaAllah, when we went last year we were around 26 people so we had 4 cabins, only 1 cabins 1 electric socket worked, So the pCO pic you tuk it was realy handy i guess the guy tuk 5rs or 10rs and we could charge our fones it was around 5 am that time iguess we got of to buy chips etc.

Trains traveling is always fun, Iwould like to make a suggestion to them they can add a car carrier aswell, people such as me and my family would love this facility, take our car along and from lahore go all the way to northern areas that would be lovely