Free-track policy being launched to boost PR earnings: Sheikh Rasheed

• Sheikh Rasheed announces to launch free-track policy for encouraging private sector to run their own freight trains.
• The minister says private freight trains will only be charged with the tracks’ fee.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad on Monday announced to launch free-track policy for encouraging private sector to run their own freight trains.

The move would eventually increase Pakistan Railways (PR) earnings, besides boosting the country’s economy, the minister said while addressing a press conference here.

Under the policy, he said the private freight trains would only be charged with the tracks’ fee that would be fixed by following the International markets’ rates.

Sheikh Rashid said the PR had outsourced its five freight trains’ operations to the private companies under public-private partnership and increased its contract amount from Rs 80,000 to Rs160,000 which would eventually help improve the Railways’ economic health.

He said the ministry was also going to float tender for up gradation of seven major Railway stations including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and others.

Several Chinese companies were showing keen interest to set up food streets and different outlets there, he added.

The ministry, he said would submit the Mainline (ML-I)’s PC-I to the Planning Commission this week and hoped that the development work would be initiated by March, 2020.

“We are inviting Prime Minister of China Li Keqiang and Chinese Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng for the inauguration of historic project (ML-I),” the minister added.

Under the ML-I, Rasheed said over 1800 kilometer railways track would be laid out across the country at the cost of around $9 billion US dollars, adding that the project would be materialized during the present government’s tenure.

With the launching of ML-I, he said the speed of passenger trains would increase from 65km-110km per hour to 160km per hour and the travel time from Rawalpindi to Karachi would reduce from 22 hours to 10 hours.

A train from Rawalpindi would reach at Lahore in just 2.5 hours, he added.

He said around 0.1 million youth would get jobs under this project, adding that no new application would be accepted in that regard as the ministry had already received one million applications of job seekers.

After getting Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC)’s approval, he said the 100,000 youth would be recruited in scale 1-5 through balloting of already received applications.

The process of regularization of the PR’s All Temporary Labours (TLA) had been stalled due to issuance of stay order by the court, he added.

Sheikh Rashid said the ministry would add 12 more passenger trains if the ML-I project completed.  The freight share would be enhanced to 20 per cent which was currently at 4 per cent.

He said the government was committed to overcome the railways deficit as it was currently incurred heavy burden including Rs 40 billion retired employees’ pensions, Rs 31 billion salaries and others.

The minister said the basic salary of PR police had also been increased to bring it at par with Islamabad Capital Territory and National Highways and Motorways police.

Around 7,000 personnel of PR police were receiving half of their basic salaries since 2010, he added.

Commenting on Maulana Fazal ur Rehman's so-called Azadi March, he hoped that the Jamiat Ulema-e Islam-Fazal chief  would come to the negotiation table. At present, the situation along the Line of Control was much-critical and Maulana should give up its plan of Azadi March, he added.

"If war starts, it will not be a conventional war but an atomic," he remarked