KARACHI:
Every year Pakistan Railways (PR) imports passenger bogies at high costs. Before the procurement, PR officials visited China to inspect the bogies. However, now officials have announced that the bogies imported from China at the cost of $149 million are unable to run on Pakistani tracks. Given that PR is already facing a financial crunch, this will further add to its financial woes.
The relevant government department must either ban or reduce the import of bogies and instead use local heavy industry to repair and upgrade the already-owned bogies. Railway track-laying machinery and equipment should also be upgraded so that it is easier to lay new tracks and create new railway linkages to increase revenue.
The organisation’s annual revenue is only Rs48 billion, yet it is paying nearly Rs70 billion in salaries and pensions. The government must find a solution to the high number of pensioners in PR who receive three or four times more pension than other government employees. If the pension issue is not resolved, PR will suffer significant losses driving it towards complete default. The government must save Pakistan Railways and turn the company into a profitable one as there is huge potential for a modern transport rail service in the country.
Shahryar Khan
Peshawar
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2023.
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