Pakistan Railways would approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) against the Sindh and Punjab governments for not transferring its land back to the department. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has already transferred land to Pakistan Railways while Baluchistan government is expected to follow the suit.
Federal Minister Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq stated this while speaking to the executive committee of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)here Monday. Senior officers from Pakistan Railways were also present on the occasion. An agreement signed with a private company, Urban Unit, to develop Land Record Management System which helped identified Railways' land measuring over 168,000 acres. The computerisation also added about 12,000 acres land to the Pakistan Railways' assets, he said and added in India, the land had been transferred to the Indian Railways about 35 years ago whereas we are still in this process.
The Minister offered freight trains to private sector and has given lead role to LCCI. He asked the Lahore Chamber to coordinate with Sialkot, Faisalabad and Multan Chambers of Commerce & Industry to plan for freight trains, which would be equally beneficial for economy, businesses and railways. He asked the business community to come forward for running the freight trains by offering them zero meter locomotives. Under the agreement with General Electric, the dispatch of 53 new locomotives has started from January 2017. As a result, the 4000-4500 hours power locomotives would help reduce travelling time of the freight trains, he said.
He said the Peshawar-Karachi freight route is generating more than 70 percent of the business. "We are also planning to reduce travelling time between Quetta and Peshawar, without touching Punjab, to 11 hours at a speed of 160 kilometer", he added.
Khawaja Saad Rafiq further said, "Pakistan Railways is procuring 200 acres of land for setting up railway stations and offices to meet the emerging requirement of CPEC project. Under this project, we are also planning a terminal at Havelian for offloading of goods imported from China for onward transportation to other destinations."
Talking about the accidents, the Minister said that most of them were due to human errors. There are about 2500 unmanned crossing in the countries, which could not be manned as provincial governments or district councils had to pay the funds. He said the issue can be handled by constructing under passes at the unmanned crossing on BOT (built-operate-transfer) basis.
However, to avert accidents, the Railways is spending Rs 730 million on the purchase of wireless sets which would be provided to the drivers, gatemen and train guards for communication. Moreover, study is also underway to install hooters and traffic signal like equipments at the railway crossing for the road transport to check accidents, the minister added. He maintained that the signaling system is so expensive therefore it is being given under the CPEC project.
He further said, "We are not depending upon the CPEC project only but finding different avenues of investment. We are in contact with the Asian Development Bank for seeking loans at lower mark up rate ie 2 percent." He said that public-private partnership would help revival and prosperity of this public entity. He invited the private sector to come forward and do business with Pakistan Railways. He said that a number of trains are being outsourced. He said that under public-private partnership highest bid of Rs 1.80 billion has been given for Shalimar Express and Pakistan Railways would get 1.14 billions more as compared to previous agreement for the same train. Pakistan Railways has also plan to outsource two-three more trains like Shalimar Express.
He said that Pakistan Railways would be earning over Rs 5 billion only from supply of coal to Sahiwal Coal Power Project. Presently goods train makes 4-5 trips in a month between Quetta and Taftan, he said and asked the business community to help increase. He also invited the businessmen to explore Iranian, Turkish and European market through railway link.
"Pakistan Railways is free of mafia and political influence as nepotism, corruption and undue favour destroys the national institutions. Best leadership has been developed that is playing a fundamental role in uplift of this national strategic asset", the minister added and said that revenue of Pakistan Railways is considerably growing.
It has earned Rs 36.58 billion as during 2015-16 as compared to the fixed target of 32 billion. He said that Pakistan Railways has planned to manufacturer electric diesel locomotives at Pakistan Locomotives Factory. He said that confirmed traffic could be given till Iran while Gwadar would be attached to the National Railway system.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Abdul Basit stressed the need for revamping of railway tracks to enhance average speed of trains while Central Traffic Control System should also be upgraded to get rid of untoward incidents. He said that operational engines and power vans that are lying in workshops should be in good working condition as CPEC would add to the work load of Pakistan Railways. He said that service charges at all dryports should be uniformed that would enhance revenue of Pakistan Railways.
Public-Private Partnership could help resolve issues being faced by Pakistan Railways at shortest possible time therefore it should outsource its maximum operations to the private sectors as being witnessed in various other countries, he said. The security system should be foolproof at Pakistan Railways warehouses as a number of LCCI members have complained regarding theft at T-10 shed at Wagha Border, he added.
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