Railways may face Rs four billion revenue shortfall due to increase in expenditure

Pakistan Railways (PR) is expecting a revenue shortfall of Rs 4 billion aggravating its financial position due to increase in expenditure. "We are expecting Rs 18 billion revenue during the current financial year 2010-11 compared to Rs 22 billion during the same period last year," said Saeed Akhtar General Manger (GM) Operation PR in an exclusive talk with Business Recorder on Friday.
"However, as soon as the government releases the bailout package of Rs 11.5 to the Railway Ministry, it would turn into a profitable institution," Saeed hoped. GM said that out of 500 locomotives available with PR about 200 were not in running condition and there was no fund available for essential repairing. With the release of the bailout package, these locomotives would be made operational to increase revenue.
"Out of the total amount of Rs 11.5 billion, Rs 6 billion was earmarked to be spent on repair of these engines," he said, adding that some uneconomical trains were stopped in the recent past, but stoppage of train services was not the solution to improve the financial condition of PR.
He said that cheques issued to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) bounced on account of fuel supply due to scarcity of funds. "Out of bailout package, we want to allocate Rs 1 billion to maintain fuel stocks to avoid shortage of oil supply in future," he added. To convert PR into a profitable institution, improvements are necessary. "After making the locomotives operational, we would further increase the number of trains to generate more revenue," he said.
He maintained that due to stoppage of train services in some parts of the country, the expenditure costs escalated further resulting in decline of revenue by about Rs 4 billion during the current financial year. "There is no plan to increase fares as it has been recently increased and the government does not want to put more burden on the masses," GM said.
He further said that another plan was also on the cards, to convert more passenger trains into freight trains, which is the most appropriate way to increase income. Sources in the Railway Ministry revealed that revenue share for freight trains had declined from 40 to 25 percent as a direct result of neglecting this mode of transportation. The rising oil prices and scarcity of locomotives forced the Railways to focus on passenger traffic more than the transportation of goods.