Reviving rail routes

It emerged at a meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas when a panel member told officials of the Pakistan Railways that during the British era there was a profitable railway line in Balochistan but now it had been dismantled. Possibly, he was talking about the Zhob-Quetta route, which was closed down in 1991 because of ‘consistent losses’. The panel asked the railway officials to restore the Quetta-Zahedan route at the earliest as it would facilitate pilgrims. Replying to a question about the delay in restoring the Harnai-Sibi route, the officials informed that so far of the 140-km-long railway line, restoration work on only 50kms had been completed and work on the rest 91kms had been stalled due to the law and order situation. The committee emphasised that recruitment of locals in the railway police would solve this problem. This is a sensible suggestion. It instructed the Railway Ministry to complete the Harnai-Sibi railway line in four months and submit a report to it.

The committee chair reminded the officials that a former minister of railways had promised on the floor of Parliament in January 2019 that the railway service on this line would be restored within three months. He took serious notice of the failure to fulfil the pledge. The panel asked questions about the current status of development and restoration of services on other routes. The officials said efforts were underway to restore the Quetta-Karachi line but work had been stopped because of suspension of Bolan Express due to the coronavirus pandemic. Its losses far outstripped its earnings. The committee chair said several railway lines in the region were crucial to Pakistan’ trade relation with Central Asia, saying these routes would connect Karachi with the Gwadar Port. He stressed that restoration and upgrading of these routes should be completed on a priority basis. Observers are of the view that road transporters have done much harm to the Pakistan Railways.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2021.

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