Pakistan Railways sign agreement with Chinese firm for AI-based project

In what is potentially a massively productive step for Pakistan Railways, the institution on Thursday signed an agreement with a Chinese company for the implementation of an artificial intelligence-based approach. 

As per details, Norinco (China North Industries Group Corporation) is all set to work on a project focused on enhancing customer facilitation for the national railways.  

The firm will execute the project on build, operate, and transfer (BOT) mode in 10 years. 

Speaking on the occasion, Chairman of the Ministry of Railways Habibur Rehman Gilani stressed that the Chinese firm involved would implement the project with no expenditure on the part of the Railways. 

It is worth noting that this is the largest IT-based project under the public-private partnership mode in Pakistan. 

The agreement on the project is part of the Railway Automated Booking and Travel Assistance (RABTA) initiative introduced by the Ministry of Railways to improve the efficiency of Railways with the help of information technology. 

The partnership agreement was signed by Azam Ghafoor, the Director of Information Technology, Pakistan Railways, and Zhidan Wu from China’s Norinco/Easyway. 

Instead of having to locate, book, and pay for each mode of transportation separately, the RABTA platform will let customers plan and book door-to-door journeys using a single interface. Customers can check train status, choose seats, purchase tickets, order car rental, meals and refreshments, as well as book a hotel.