KARACHI: Pakistan has started transporting diesel by rail to its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after road closures ahead of an opposition march disrupted freight movement, implementing a contingency plan announced this week to prevent interruptions to fuel supplies, the railways ministry said on Saturday.

The move comes after goods transporters warned on Thursday that restrictions imposed ahead of a planned Sept. 27 march on Islamabad by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were disrupting supply chains. PTI postponed the march on Friday until Oct. 4, but authorities had already restricted key routes.

“On the directives of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Railways has commenced the transportation of diesel by rail to ensure its timely supply to PSO depots,” Pakistan Railways said in a statement, referring to Pakistan State Oil.

The ministry said a freight train carrying 750,000 liters of diesel from Rawalpindi had reached Peshawar Division, while another carrying one million liters from Mahmood Kot in Punjab’s Muzaffargarh district was scheduled to arrive on Saturday night.

Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik directed officials at a meeting on Thursday to prepare for possible interruptions to petroleum transportation in the event of road closures or security problems.

Pakistan Railways told the meeting it would make the maximum number of train wagons available to transport high-speed diesel if road movement was disrupted, with particular emphasis on maintaining supplies to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

PTI planned the protest march to Islamabad, seeking the release of its founding leader and ex-premier, Khan, who has been in jail since August 2023 and has faced a series of convictions and charges that he and his party say are politically motivated.

The government denies targeting him for political reasons.

While Khan’s party has postponed the march until Oct. 4 following a meeting of its political committee, one of its senior leaders said the party held the element of surprise over the timing of the protest.

“We can protest sooner or even a few days after,” PTI leader Zulfikar Bukhari said. “The ball is in our court.”