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