Federal auditors have questioned the rationale behind the Economic Coordination Committee’s decision to amend a contract awarded to a private concern for operating the Business Express train service, believing it will cause a loss of Rs2 billion to the national exchequer over a period of five years.

In a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) held here on Wednesday, Acting Auditor General of Pakistan Tanveer Ahmad commented that the basis on which the ECC – the economic decision-making body of the cabinet – reduced revenue share of Pakistan Railways (PR) in Business Express “does not seem reliable”.

The revenue share of PR in the train has been slashed from 88% occupancy to 65%. This will bring down the national carrier’s earnings by Rs1.1 million per day and the loss will reach Rs2 billion for the five-year contract period.

Four Brothers, the operator of the train which was required to pay Rs3.2 million per day to the PR, will now be paying Rs2.1 million, said Arif Azeem, Secretary of the Ministry of Railways, while briefing PAC on the contours of the deal and recent changes made in it.

PR awarded the contract to Four Brothers for running the train between Karachi and Lahore on public-private partnership model with terms that they would pay an amount equivalent to 88% occupancy or Rs3.2 million per day besides investing Rs225.8 million in coaches and locomotives.