Railway's revenue to touch Rs 40 billion mark by June, National Assembly told

The revenue of Pakistan Railways will touch Rs 40 billion mark by next June against the target of Rs 36 billion, while it has already reached Rs 32 billion in June 2016 from Rs 18 billion in 2013. Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique informed this to the National Assembly on Tuesday while responding to a motion moved by MNA Naeema Kishwer Khan.
He said the freight trains were also performing well and the revenue was likely to touch Rs 16 billion mark by June next year. "We have an oil reserve of 20 days available round the year for our operations while punctuality of the trains has also increased to 80 percent from 20 percent," he said.
"We promised in our election campaign to build a bullet train, but we can't do it due to paucity of funds," he said, adding the government was working on up-gradation of the railways to make it compatible with the railway system of the developed countries. The railway system would be upgraded in four cycles and great improvement in the system had been made in the first cycle, he said, adding the workshops were running on full capacity and trains were being upgraded to facilitate the people.
Elaborating some projects, he said train service on Sibbi-Khost-Harnai railway track would be started by the end of next year with a cost of Rs 3 billion. The train service on Rawalpindi-Jand-Kohat section would be restored in six months, he added. The minister said his department retrieved 1,017 acres of land during the last three years from land mafia in different parts of the country while efforts were still under way to get more land vacated.
The minister said the provincial governments were not handing over the Railways land to Ministry of Railways despite a verdict of the Supreme Court in the matter. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has handed over 90 percent land to the Railways while the other provinces were not cooperating in that regard, he said, adding the ministry was pursuing the case against other provinces in the Supreme Court.
He said Railways was ready to give its land for the Karachi Circular Railway, adding the Railways land was being allotted for other purposes under a set policy and its violation would not be allowed. The minister said Sindh government should take responsibility for the Karachi Circular Railway project and pay compensation amounting to around Rs 14 billion to people living on the railways land to initiate the project. The minister said he would not allocate even an inch of Railways land to anybody during his tenure in the office.
Saad Rafique said three different trains were incurring an annual loss of around Rs 1 billion and different private parties and transporters were approached to start public-private partnership to improve the railways, but none of them expressed willingness.
Earlier taking part in the discussion on the motion, the members urged the minister to get precious lands of the Railways vacated from illegal occupation and utilise it for earning revenue. The lawmakers also demanded restoration of different suspended railway trains and stations for the benefit of passengers.