Daily Times

Prime Minister Justice (r) Nasirul Mulk was briefed about the performance of Pakistan Railways at the Prime Minister’s office on Tuesday.

The briefing was attended by Minister for Railways Roshan Khursheed Bharucha, Secretary to the Prime Minister Suhail Aamir, Railways Secretary Muhammad Javed Anwar, and senior officers of Ministry of Railways.

The prime minister was briefed about organisational structure, rail network in the country, past performance, and the future development strategy under National Vision 2025 in the Railways sector.

Mulk was also briefed, in detail, about the new business plan and various initiatives taken, both in freight as well as passenger transportation sector, for the revival of Railways and increasing its revenues.

The prime minister was informed that as a result of the right mix in service, the passenger share in railways has increased from 13 percent in 2013 to three percent in 2017. Pakistan Railways recorded Rs 50 billion revenue in 2017-18 as compared to Rs 15.5 billion in 2011-12.

Mulk was also briefed about the progress made in various rail network extension projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The participants were informed that the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project from Karachi to Havelian was being upgraded as Early Harvest Project under the CPEC. They were also briefed about the completion of a feasibility study for the upgrading of ML-2 (Kotri-Attock) project.

Feasibility studies on the extension of ML-2 (Gwadar – Basima – Jacobabad and Basima-Quetta) and the extension of ML-3 (Quetta – Bostan – Zhob – DI Khan – Kotlajam) projects are also under way, the attendees were informed.

The prime minister was also apprised about the challenges faced by the organisation, including the issue of pension liabilities that contributed to 34 percent of the total expenditure of the organisation.

The prime minister appreciated the performance of Pakistan Railways, especially various initiatives that were taken up under the strategic business plan.

“There is a huge potential and scope for Pakistan Railways to further improve its performance and increase its share both in passenger as well as freight transportation sector,” he said.

He said that a comprehensive plan should be worked out to overcome the existing challenges for the consideration of the incoming elected government.

Published in Daily Times, June 20^th 2018.