‘Railways could lose steam after exit of Four Brothers Group’

Former official says entity likely to lose motivation after competition ends

LAHORE: Pakistan Railways is likely to lose its motivation behind improving service quality and traveling experience after the exit of its competitor, the Four Brothers Group, according to a former general manager of the state-owned entity.

The group has recently announced its exit from the first public-private partnership in the sector, leading many to believe that Pakistan Railways will once again go back to being complacent as the only player.



Saeed Akhtar, a former general manager, said the momentum that saw Railways improve its service has now been broken.

“New investors might now be hesitant in collaborating with Pakistan Railways,” Akhtar told The Express Tribune. “The outcome of the first public-private partnership in the railways sector has not set a good precedent.



“The concept behind allowing a private party to commercially operate a train was to create healthy competition that would also motivate the state-owned entity to up their game.”

His remarks come after Pakistan Railways managed to take charge of Pakistan’s first luxury train, the Pak-Business Express, after a lengthy legal battle.

The Four Brothers Group also owes an amount of Rs2.22 billion, according to Pakistan Railways. The private company, however, denies the case.

Pak-Business Express was introduced in 2012 and was meant to financially support the railways department through a rental fee for using its infrastructure. Arguments over the rate and occupancy rate followed, leading to a legal battle.



Experts believed that Railways would have been pushed into raising its standards after the private train was launched.

As predicted, the outcomes of this deal were positive; Pakistan Railways started a similar value-added service Islamabad-Karachi Green Line train. It has also recently upgraded the Lahore-Karachi Karakorum Express and promised to introduce another two similar value-added trains.

Opposing view

However, Pakistan Railways Senior General Manager Javed Anwar believes the entity can also operate a luxury train similar to the Pak-Business Express.

“We are continuously signing agreements with private parties in freight sector,” he said. “Railways is involved in public-private partnerships for two of its trains, our partnerships are increasing and the matter of Pak-Business Express is not affecting our future vision,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2016.

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