The government needs to take measures to revive it to its past efficiency and reliability.
LAHORE: This is with reference to Amer Z Durrani’s article “The state of Pakistan Railways” (Parts I and II) of May 5 and 6. The writer has rightly said that Pakistan Railways (PR) plays a vital role in passenger and freight transportation for a country with a population of more than 160 million.
PR continues to be not only the cheapest but also the safest mode of travel. However, over the years, it has suffered from neglect caused by lack of interest from successive governments. The result is that the country’s largest employer has a deficit running into billions of rupees. While much focus was placed on refurbishing the country’s road network, no one did anything about its railways.
PR recently absorbed Rs14 billion in taxpayers’ money in the form of direct subsidies. Out of 522 engines, only 220 are in working order, of which 100 are in poor condition. According to the National Disaster Management Authority, the floods of last year caused a loss of Rs6.7 billion to the railway network as several hundred kilometres of lines were washed away.
However, the fact remains that every day hundreds of thousands of people use the trains for transportation. And because this mode of transport is cheap and relatively safe, the government needs to take measures to revive it to its past efficiency and reliability.
Salma Tahir
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2011.
