Pakistan Railways (PR) suffered losses worth over Rs. 150 billion during the last three-and-a-half years under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, according to official documents.
Official sources revealed that in addition to an amount exceeding Rs. 130 billion, PR had a deficit of around Rs. 20 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.
Its net loss was reduced by Rs. 2.92 billion in the fiscal year 2020-21 as a result of a revenue increase of Rs. 1.07 billion and decreased expenditure to reach Rs. 1.85 billion.
PR’s gross earnings between 1st July 2021 and 20th January 2022 were Rs. 31.76 billion. At this pace, its revenues are likely to be Rs. 57 to Rs. 58 billion. This is 18.6 percent higher than in FY 2020-21, as per the official documents.
PR had introduced ‘Raabta’ — a platform for the improvement of its financial conditions. Raabta is essentially an attempt to enhance customer facilitation via artificial intelligence.
Annually 60 million passengers use PR, for which 40 percent of the tickets are sold using an outdated process without any audit. To resolve this problem, Raabta allows customers to plan trips with the help of different options. Single interface customers can check train statuses, choose and purchase seats, book hotels, and order car rentals, meals, and refreshments.
Raabta also allows passengers to lodge statuses during their journeys. They can book tickets through multiple platforms including mobile applications, websites, ticket agents, reservation officers, vending machines, and handheld devices. Furthermore, the platform also provides a freight and parcel booking system, a data center, third-party agreements, business intelligence, and reporting system.
The implementation of Raabta will incur zero costs to PR and the latter will get a fair share in ticket prices, freight, and value-added service.
Moreover, PR is trying to improve the punctuality of its trains. Every train is being monitored and each of its detentions is reviewed and rectified. Also, a mobile application called ‘Pakrail Live’ has been launched for the real-time tracking of trains to facilitate passengers. Due to the close monitoring of trains at the divisional, headquarters, and ministry levels, the punctuality of trains improved from 63 percent in FY 2019-20 to 80 percent in FY 2020-21.
PR also resumed its operations of the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) Cargo Train on 21 December 2021 after nine years. The ITI Cargo Train project is of supreme importance not only for railways but for Pakistan as it will maximize economic efficiency through regional connectivity. The train will play a pivotal role in enhancing trade relations between Iran-Pakistan and Turkey, and will also develop long-needed goodwill.
Considering the importance of the ITI route, the Ministry of Railways included 200 km of track for the up-gradation of a total of 638 km between Quetta-Taftan while selecting projects for the Pakistan Sector Development Program (PSDP) 2021-22. This up-gradation will be the first of its kind after 1870. The project for the rehabilitation of JCD-QUETTA, an (ML-10) section, is also included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Outsourcing of freight trains has also been initiated under the Pakistan Railways Freight Transportation Company (PRFTC) to earn more revenue for PR. Also, high capacity and high-speed hopper trucks have been inducted into the current fleet for the swift movement and unloading of coal. New High-Capacity High Speed rolling stock, including coaches and wagons, is also being procured.
The outsourcing regime for the passenger sector is being followed through the Pakistan Railways Advisory and Consultancy Services (PRACS) to improve service delivery as per modern-day requirements and to derive maximum revenue potential.
Additionally, the Safety Directorate is being strengthened and an office for safety regulators is being developed, and the Commercial Management of Luggage Vans and Brake Vans with different trains have been outsourced under Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
A very biased attempt to unfairly malign the PTI Government, knowing fully well that it was the result of the pandemic, rather than any mismanagement on part of the government.
Since when is ProPakostani publishing government-critical articles? Stick to what your platform is about and leave this space free of politics.