PAKISTAN RAILWAY CRISIS AND ITS SOLUTIONS

Among the means of transportation railways are the cheapest and safest mode for passengers and goods. It also helps in growth of economy for the country. A plan for a rail system in Pakistan was first proposed in 1858.A survey for railway line was initiated by Commissioner of Sindh ,Sir Henry Edward Fere in 1858. It was proposed that a railway line from Karachi City to Kotri, steam navigation from the Indus /Chenab up to Multan and from there another railway to Lahore and beyond be constructed. Thus, it was on 13th May, 1861 that first railway line was opened for public traffic between Karachi City and Kotri, the distance of 105 miles. The line between Karachi City and Kemari was opened in 1889 and by 1897 the line from Kemari to Kotri was doubled.

Since 1861 when the first railway line was laid down between Karachi and Kotri, the expansion of the railway network by the British came at a rapid pace up until 1947. The driving factors for this growth were strategic and economic in nature. For instance to stop the invasion of the Russians from the West, the British built the Khojak tunnel, the fourth largest at that time, in seemingly inaccessible areas of Balochistan to reach Chaman railway station. But after 1947, little has been done to expand and maintain this network.

In Pakistan train were the primary mode of transport until the 1970s, but since then their share has declined due to a shift in government focus from rail to road transport. From 2005 to 2010, budgetary expenditure on railways was only Rs45.5bn compared to Rs155bn on the national highways.

The total length of railway tracks in Pakistan is 5,072 miles (8,163 km). and important railway routes and details of passenger train and freight in Pakistan are following :

1. Peshawar-Karachi via Rawalpindi- Lahore 2. Karachi to Quetta via Kotri, Larkana and Jacobabad 3. Quetta to Zahidan4. Rohri to Quetta 5. Multan to Jacobabad via Dera Ghazi Khan 6. Quetta-Zhob7.Quetta to Chaman8.Sibi to Khost

Passenger TrainPassenger traffic comprises 50% of the total revenue annually. During 1999-2000, this amounted to Rs. 4.8 billion. Pakistan Railways carries 65 million passengers annually and daily operates 228 mail, express and passenger trains. Daily, PR carries an average of 178,000 people. Pakistan Railways also operates special trains during occasions such as Eid- ul -Fitr, Eid- ul- Azha and Independence Day.

FreightThe Freight Business Unit, with 12,000 personnel, operates over 200 freight stations on the railway network. The Unit serves the Ports of Karachi and Bin Qasim as well as all four provinces of the country and generates revenue from the movement of agricultural, industrial and imported products such as petroleum oil & lubricants (POL), wheat, coal, fertilizer, rock phosphate, cement and sugar. About 39% of the revenue is generated from the transportation of POL products, 19% from imported wheat, fertilizer and rock phosphate. The remaining 42% is earned from domestic traffic.

The Freight Business Unit offers services to meet customer requirements and reduce costs through efficiency, innovation and modernization. All possible efforts are made to increase revenues and pass on the benefits to customers. The Freight Business Unit is headed by an additional General Manager.

The Freight Rates structure is based on market trends, particularly of road transport, which is the Railways' main competitor. The freight rates are no longer rigid but flexible, depending on the lead, peak-off peak season, and quantum offered.

A year 1900 view of the Karachi-Kemari Train.

Lahore Railway Station (stands as it was built by the British)

The Steam Engine finally resting outside Lahore Railway StationPR is facing losses due to mismanagement, poor maintenance and weak ticket checks that allow people to get away with not paying for their tickets. There have also been political interventions in decision-making about which new routes to open. Furthermore, PR is not allowed to charge a market-clearing price; fares have always been dictated by the federal government.According to the National Disaster Management Authority, the heavy floods have caused a loss of Rs.6.7 billion to the railway network as several hundred kilometers of lines were washed away. The railway coaches were also the targets of angry mobs and arson attacks after Benazir Bhuttos assassination resulting in huge losses. Out of 522 total engines only 220 are in working order, out of which 100 are in poor condition. GhulamBalour, Federal Minister of Pakistan Railways, has not made any effort to hide his helplessness over corruption affecting the department and the need for new locomotives.

The addition into problems of railways began in January 2011 when a cheque for Rs700 million issued by Pakistan Railways to Pakistan State Oil was not honored. The PSO subsequently stopped the supply of fuel to Railways. According to a senior officer at Railways headquarters in Lahore some 30 freight trains had to be stationed in yards near major railway stations across the country and only one freight train left for Muzaffargarh on Sunday. On an average, eight freight trains leave for Sindh for various destinations daily.Their are not enough funds for payment to PSO for high speed diesel to keep all freight trains running. The Railways have also not received a single penny from the Rs11.1 billion package recently approved by the cabinet.

I am also confused that if people wants to obtain urgent ticket reservations, they will not get the empty place in any train, and even on our major holidays i.eEid- ul -Fitr, Eid- ul- Azha and Independence day if you want to travel then you must have an advance booking at least fifteen days or more, and the special trains are other then normal daily routine, innocent and poor people wait for the trains many many hours more then ten hours and sometime fifteen to twenty hours, and I have not seen any train to come at time in my twenty five years of life, six to seven hours train late is the normal routine in our country, why their is no accountability for them, are they not citizen of Pakistan? while if any air craft late for few minutes, it become the headlines of TV channels, although the journey taken by the eighty percent (backbone of the country) people of Pakistan, no one is consolidating at it, why this important institution of government is facing deep financial riddle after having colossal revenue and other conundrums, where the earnings of this organization are going, who is taking the compensation of this organization.

Followings are some of the suggestions to improve the condition for railway system of Pakistan:

1- First of all government should eradicate corruption in railways sector. Corruption is the menace that is destroying many sectors of Pakistani society.

2- Pakistan Railways should be privatized. This is also the possible solution of problem because currently government of Pakistan has to bear the huge losses monthly. Other benefits of privatization of Pakistan Railways include the increase in service quality and expansion of Railways because government has nothing to invest in PR.

3- Government should ask Chinese for help in order to make it profitable organization because China has made wonderful progress in railway industry. As China did in several other sectors including coal and nuclear power generation and manufacture of automobiles it has granted access to its enormous market by insisting on the transfer of technology. It has managed to develop its railway industry to the point at which it was able to out-compete the established systems in Europe and North America in winning the contract to build a high speed line connecting Mecca with Medina.

4- India is also making impressive strides in the railway sector. The underground system in Delhi has won the admiration of many foreign experts for its engineering as well as management. The inter-city system is being modernized in terms of both the quality of service on offer as well as the new equipment being used. The Indian and Chinese systems are by far the largest in the world and the two countries as a result of the advances they are making will come to dominate the world railway industry and business. Pakistan being a neighbor of these two rapidly growing and giant economies could benefit enormously from the development of the two systems.

5- Pakistan is blessed with coal reserves and a single Thar coal reserve of Sindh is about 850 Trillion Cubic feet which is more than oil reserves of KSA and Iran put together i.e. 375 billion barrels.

Chinese and other companies had not only carried out surveys and feasibilities of this project but also offered 100 percent investment in last 7 to 8 years but the Petroleum Gang always discouraged them in a very systematic way. If these reserves are exploited properly then the deficiency of fuel can be catered for the railways.

In conclusion, the best solution of this problem is the privatization of Pakistan Railway. We can take the example of PTCL; before privatization PTCL's monthly losses were in billions. Today it is not only a profitable organization but also providing excellent services to the customers. Corruption in Pakistan Railways can only be removed by privatization of Pakistan Railways.

This post is written by UmerInam&IqraJaved.

Posted by UmerInamat 2:37 AMEmail ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook18 comments:1.

Natashja de WolfFebruary 22, 2011 at 11:29 PMI thought your comments on how to better the railroads good - except I've been hearing some quite damning assessments of the Chinese high-speed system. The Chinese system has been found wanting especially in safetly and the manner in which their metal was smelted. If I understand it correctly - the plans were rushed and now there's a worry that their tracks will start to fall apart. I hope it can be remedied.ReplyDelete2. ChUmerInamFebruary 22, 2011 at 11:32 PM@Natasha de Wolf, I agree with your observations about Chinese system and absolutely it is correct, but I guess they are better then ongoing Pakistani system in railway engines, tracks and other materials, Chinese system is quite cheaper then anyone else in the world and I think also affordable for a country like Pakistan,

So, it is better to have something rather nothing, because already earnings taken from this government institutions is going in the hidden bank accounts of our cheap and corrupt management of Railway. general People are in Panic, eighty percent of Pakistani people have journey to this way, they face colossal trouble due to bloody administration while journey, and astonishingly their is a no accountability for them, no one is asking.

Pakistan is still unable to obtain the facility of METRO railway system, if they get they are not able to continue due to the lack of resources, so they have better choice of Chinese railway system according to his current plight.ReplyDelete3. BiswajitDuttaFebruary 22, 2011 at 11:35 PMThe Indian Railways also have similar problems . The finances bleed as successive railway ministers pay lip service to safety & security & augment train links to their constituencies/states . The annual railway budgets are used by short sighted populous railway ministers to play Santa Claus . Passenger fares in the second classes are mostly left untouched & only the upper class/AC fares are marginally increased . The revenue losses on this account are sought to be met by hiking freight rates year after year leading to further erosion of railway freight traffic share to road transport . There is hardly much addition to new lines , renewal of rolling stock & investment in safety devices . Train accidents & heavy casualties are rampant . The Indian Railways , which is also the largest employer , exhausts most of is budgetary allocation & revenues on salaries leaving little surplus for track renewal . It is a drain on the national exchequer & some urgent rail reforms are necessary to improve situation .ReplyDelete4. SandipDattaFebruary 22, 2011 at 11:40 PMI was under the impression that CIL was the largest employer in India. One a side note, the railways are the most efficient form of transport in India, in terms of mile-tonne traveled per unit of fuel consumption. It is also probably the ch...eapest in the world. Rampant ticket-less traveling over loading of freight eats away at the profit of the railways.Anecdotal tidbit:1. LalBahadurShastri was the Rly minister before he became the PM (after Nanda's interim stint)2. LN Mishra the sitting railway minister was killed in the blast in Samastipur in the 70's before the Janata Party came to power. Evidence pointed to George Fernandes as one of the plotters.3. MadhuDandavate during his railway minister ship, introduced 2 inches of foam on all 3tier sleeper seats, the biggest comfort for traveling aamaadmi.4. Jaffar Sharif (was a driver for a Karnataka CM according to one of my Kannada buddies) became the railway minister and Karnataka boomed.5 ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury did a whole lot for Malda railway infrastructure (being his constituency).6. Nitish Kumar took the ERly headquarters from Howrah to Kishangunj (naturally, he is from Bihar)7. Lalu brought new style of management of railways (switching from plastic cups to earthenware for tea being one such move). He was probably the most effective Rly minister lately (Lalu economics anyone?).8. Mamata took the Railway portfolio, but is neglecting it, she is more interested in State politics than the ministry. She introduced monthly tickets for Students traveling on Calcutta Metro, the monthly ticket graphics look strikingly similar to her TMC emblem. She had the hair-brained idea of naming railways stations as Uttam Kumar and Khudiram( I don't know where the h*ll these places are- I wanted to go to Garia)

In the meantime hundreds of railway posts remain vacant.

To learn more about Indian railway go to www.irfca.orgReplyDelete5. BiswajitDuttaFebruary 22, 2011 at 11:41 PMCoal India is the largest employer among companies listed in the stock exchange . Indian Railways is the biggest employer , overall .ReplyDelete6. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2011 at 5:15 PMvery well observed and written.. I have not much idea about railway tracks and transportation,still the fact and figures shown in your article above and in following arguments /comments on it was quite frustrating ,how those corrupt government and the management are sucking the blood of their countryman... seems like they are vampire who feeds on human blood.. theywont let us have a better world to live in.well bro keep doing your gud work ,and awareness in others like me .... never give up implementing/applying these solution to overcome crisis we have.ReplyDelete7. FaheemFebruary 23, 2011 at 10:00 PMThe writer has done a good analysis of PR systems,but has not touched on the core issues like poor cash flow,old age staff,poor performance of Chinese locomotives,late running and closure of trains, and of course poor maintainance of tracks,bridges and safety standards.The Railways was destroyed by Mr Sheikh Rasheed, when he was the Minister of Railways, as he operated new trains almost every month just to please the President, without realizing that there were no resourses to operate the new trains.It resulted in a total collaspe and an unrecoverable financial loss, which broke the back bone of the Railways.For the Railways toimpove its performance and cash flow, it must do the follwing immediately to come out of the doldrums. 1)Expand tickets reservation period from present 15 days to 4 months.This will generate additional cash immediately.Like in America, early days ticket should be expenses and delayed tickets should be cheap.2)Induct young blood in the organisation as 70% of the employes are about to retire in near future, and they are only concerned for their retirement benifits including how to occupy the railway house.3) Request India to lease locomotives to Pakistan on installements.If India agrees,the objective can be achieved withen months, as line connection is already there and the locomotives can be easily maintained at Lahore or Atari.4)Every DS has a Deputy DS.All mail trains run at night in almost every Division.At that time, all the 600 Railways officers are in there bed and all mail trains are in the hands of the controller, of all the Divisions .Deputy DS and his team should work from 2PM onwards daily to monitor the progress of all the trains.DS and his team should handle the morning shift rather than both working on the same timing with very low productivity.By doing this, I am positive the results are going to be mind blowing.5)The job of the Marketing Department is to create Vision ,Mission and Objectives for the organisation and of course new profitable customers/consumers, rather than just selling lands to there friends such as Canal Bank and Hall Institute at dirt cheap prices.Train names should be sold to Multi National Companies to generate quick cash ,such as,SurfExpress,Lipton Express and many more.On these lines wonders can be achieved, if thought fully implemented. I hope my suggestions have made some sence, and if I could be of any use for Pakistan Railways,I am always available. FaheemAkhoond.Houston Texas USA. Cell# 001 832 618 2867ReplyDelete8. MianIftikharAhmadFebruary 23, 2011 at 11:16 PMhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/A-New-Tehreek-e-Azadi-Pakistan/200467726632083

...

Join us for better PakistanReplyDelete9. IqraJavedFebruary 24, 2011 at 2:33 AM@Anonymous Thanks for your appreciation and as a freelancer its our duty to spread awareness about issues of Pakistan but our corrupt government dont pay any heed to our suggestions and make improvements.

@ Faheem Thanks for your suggestions but how can u say Chinese locomotives have poor performance??.China is no doubt better in technology and it has far better performance in Railways system.It is also affordable for country like Pakistan.ReplyDelete10. ChUmerInamFebruary 24, 2011 at 7:29 AM@BiswajitDutta, Dutta g, Indeed we have many similar problems, but I still commend the Indian Railway management specially the government who bring the METRO system in New Delhi (Don't know who bring this system in India but I think they bring for the people of India) if I am not wrong you have this facility in India more then last five years, corruption is everywhere in the world even USA, Canada, UK and the rest of western world are not dirt free to this disease but I think they don't believe at 100 % sleaze, they always tried to help out their people with some pragmatical steps of development in any sector.

I also believe that the increase in fears is not the solution of this problem either in India or Pakistan because already this institution generating lots of revenue in both countries, mostly people have journey always through rails it is cheaper and affordable for ordinary people (aamadmi), the basic problem is the utilization and counter check of this revenue earning by railways, if the governments spend its own income at Railways, hope then too we can make it better.

Present Pakistan railway minister Bashir Ahmed Balour, he is totally incapable to even speak and ameliorate about the issues and problem facing by his ministry, I remember one time he gave very irresponsible statement when he said, Pakistan railway system would not be perfect and mild ever, wow ! and another time he said two mafia gangs have hold at this very important institution of Government and he is helpless to take any action against them, and interestingly he is still existing the railway minister office, how you anticipate good outcome from the performance of Railway while minister himself is enfeeble.

Pakistan and India almost have same culture, the basic problem is our rulers, If I am not mistaking I would say that they are unaware and even some are uneducated then too they are in ministries or government, because of feudalism, if someone father/mother in politics then later his son/daughter would replace him/her it will become the tradition of whole family, thats why new and talented people are not coming in front because they have no resources, and I want to say,

"Politics is the life time business if you invest one time then you and your family will govern life time."

@SandipDatta, Thanks for sharing information about Indian Railway ministers and their performance, can you tell about the METRO System in India when and from where it comes in India and which political party was in regime while this system introduced ?ReplyDelete11. Khalid BilalFebruary 24, 2011 at 8:57 PMCh. Sahib! Read and what to write that all know? Anyway, it is a wonderful report and I am sure that something would be done in right direction. Well done.Regards.ReplyDelete12. FakherKayaniFebruary 26, 2011 at 12:55 AMVery informative and thoughtfull post. Pakistan has a lot of natural resources and huge skilled manpower but who will utilze the same because we cannot hope from our present leaders and system. But it does not mean that we stop working, we may contnue our efforts and may devlop us into a discipline and true muslim society. If we achieve this goal, Inshallah system will be changed.ReplyDelete13. hasandevelopmentjournalistMarch 7, 2011 at 10:59 AMMrfaheem ... You did a logical and Argumentative Analysis and the suggestion are really implementable and practical..Regards HasanJavaidReplyDelete14. sewatmehdiAugust 11, 2011 at 3:29 AMthoughtfulndimplemntablepostz.....ReplyDelete15. AMINAugust 23, 2011 at 1:50 AMAn emergent situation is caused by size and leakages in Railways. If revenues are leaked, blood does not flow back to heart, what will heart pump...air... I believe tickets that we buy in trains are fake books kept by ticket checkers, guards... 100% loss ....why they refuse tickets at station window, is this reason. Secondary passengers, entraining in between also pay them partial amounts... Workers only hang their attendance and leave for work elsewhere. Chinese substitution had introduced novelty, not liked by our lords... UK, Germany and Japan.... Not only engines, rails , bogies, and technology transfer was arranged by some sincere officers in Pakistan Railways like Aurangzaib Khan, GM. Personal experiences speak volumes for such officials who were at heart of introducing Chinese factor.ReplyDelete16. AnonymousOctober 20, 2011 at 10:33 PMi think gov. take help from china.ReplyDelete17. AnonymousNovember 18, 2011 at 12:59 AMThanks alot..your post has been very helpful for my assignment... :)ReplyDelete18. hassangulDecember 18, 2011 at 8:37 AMas there is a lot of coal reserves in Pakistan so the first effort should be for the utilization of our own resources.it is also necessary to eradicate corruption for the betterment of Pakistan railwayReplyDeleteAdd comment