Contrary to the promises made by the ruling party, bullet trains will not be heading our way, according to the Minister of Railways.
Khawaja Saad Rafique said that we cannot afford bullet trains. He said that the even if they do somehow manage to launch bullet trains, there is no market for it among the upper and middle class.
He added,
When we asked the Chinese about it, they laughed at us. We should consider the 160 kmph train under CPEC as a bullet train. We can’t afford an actual bullet train, there’s no market for it.
In his speech in the National Assembly he briefed the members about his performance since taking charge as the Railway Minister. He offered justifications about how he was doing everything he can to clean up the railway department and to turn the losses into profits.
Land Ownership Issues
The Minister further said that Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan are not ready to hand over the Railway land over to Pakistan Railways, which is one of the main reasons why they cannot generate more revenue. He argued that the provincial governments are not ready to hand over this land to Pakistan Railways even with a Supreme Court order.
Aside from KPK which ceded 90 percent of its land for Pakistan Railways (PR), none of the other provinces’ chief ministers agreed to hand over the land to PR.
CPEC Railway Projects Hit Snags
Detailing his negotiations with Chinese officials on the CPEC railway projects he said that things aren’t going as smoothly as it seems.
He said,
Our Chinese friends have expressed their displeasure, but we’ve made it clear that we have the discretion. They should limit themselves to the Karachi-Lahore track, and we will dualise the [up-country] tracks with the ADB.
It should be mentioned that the Asian Development Bank was originally funding the dualisation of the Lahore-Peshawar railway track.
Problems With PR Blamed on Previous Administration
The minister went on to detail the problems that PR was suffering from. Problems which he blamed to be caused by his predecessor Ghulam Ahmed Bilour.
He detailed the problems which included sub-standard food served in the trains and removal of original parts from carriages to fix broken ones. He also stressed upon the importance of automating the repair of trains which would reduce the human error caused by manual repair and the deaths caused by it.
“When we asked the Chinese about it, they laughed at us” Bezti Karwa Li :P
They would not have laughed at all. Our politician wanted to make point cystal clear that he won’t do it but that’s political way of saying it. Would you laugh in high caliber meeting like CPEC if it were you in place of Chinese!
Never trust 2 things in your life. 1- What Pakistani politicians say. 2- What Indian media says.
True enough!
LOL! Right!
They are Bezti Proof. Yeh Dheet ban k phr bhe daant dikhaty rhy hon gy.
Okay, I’m moving to Tokyo.
Seriously though, you haven’t experienced life until you’ve ridden a bullet train:
youtube. com/watch?v=cZViuZu51lM
You can get to any corner of Japan in just one hour.
Bhai Karachi k Gulistan e Johar jitna tou pora Japan hai. Any corner in 1 hour is not a big deal yeh tou hamara Chingchi Auto bhe kar leta hai. That’s why yahan bullet train nahi la rhy Khowaja Saad Rafiq :P
Wow. Ignorance is truly a bliss for you isn’t it? If only you had tried googling before opening your mouth, you could’ve saved yourself the humiliation of looking like a complete idiot right now.
Let’s see. Total area of Japan = 377,972 km²
Total area of Karachi = 3,527 km²
In other words, more than one hundred Karachis can fit inside Japan. Go back to school now.
Sir i wonder if you know anything about mockery, irony or sarcasm. There is nothing to say on your Fact and Figures as everybody knows that.
Kuch log itna zyada parh letay hain k her jaga parhai pe kharch kiye gae paise puray krne aa jatay hain.
Yaar kutte wali kardi. … doob mare insan chingchi ke peshab mein
ya agree bro
Darbaariii ki baat = Gadhey ki laat
is article ko post ker k kitne khush hongey ye ProP– walay :)
yeah its an IT Blog but ye bohat zaroori hey
Bhai! Kisi Aur Blog Par Chaly Jao if you don’t like it!
Ni inhonnay bar bar visit krna h idhr or har new artricle prh bhi lena or yahi comment lkhte jana h.
Ap ghar chaly jao stupid.
Salute!
Level hey bhayya apka.,
patwari spotted
Thanks :)
But I like this news…
Patwari hoo khotay say pyaar karta hoo…
I don’t know the reasons but it seems good for country to not to spend on another expensive project.
They should spend, it’s our money, better than wasting money on useless flights for pm etc and meaningless treatments and so.
I will be more happy when our public will question minister and PM’s expenses rather than limiting their own resources. How pathetic and a** h*** people we are.
Higher the Grade, higher the expenses (salaries+perks+office expenses etc). This phrase works for all Corporates and Governments.
Thanks saad sahib for telling us timely and plainly that bullet train is not feasible for Pakistani people having majority population based on middle class…. Promises are made what come in mind without thinking and without any feasibility study. The message what you are conveying to the next generation… Our politicians are teaching us how to tell lie and how to give up the promises and how to speak lie openly and feel no shame, just these things we are teaching from you politicians…. No valid credibility has remained in politicians…. My heart wants to weep on your decisions and how boldly lie is told before the nation…. I am really speechless what to say what not to say….. but whatever is happening on name of politics or democracy is not fair…..
So where is ruling party promise, can they admit that we unable to do this.
Agar bullet train aa bhi jaye to hum phir bhi late pohanchenge :D
Good… this is a good opportunity to invest in Hyperloop instead…. its actually cheaper.
the minister can afford BMW’s, flats in london for his self but not a bullet train for pakistan
Jab metro launch hoti hay to kehte hay k metro say kia ho jaye ga.
Ab unho nay kaha hay bullet train nae launch kray gay ab sab ko bimaari par gaee
Hahahaah. Ise kehte hain dual and cheap mentality people.
China laughed what type of people can become railway ministers in Pakistan who have no idea at all.I read newspaper all the time saying British and China where desperate to invest in Pak railway but our railway have no plan apart from improving scrap green colour trains.
Abay laughed at us ki aulaad ….. Teri shakal pe hans rahe honge ….. kazib aur kameen ka ‘beta’ aisi batein karta acha nahi lagta …
But we can afford giving exPM’s kids 6 billion each to buy apartments.
What a joke on the Pakistani salaried tax-payer.