Pakistan Railways seeks Rs5tr for track rehabilitation

LAHORE:

Railway officials have requested Rs5 trillion from their ministry for the restoration of infrastructure damaged by floods.

According to a summary sent to the Railways ministry by the department of civil engineering, a sum of Rs53.88 billion was needed to restore the signals system; Rs60.80 billion to fix the partial damage suffered by 33 stations in Lahore, Karachi, Multan, Sukkur, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Quetta divisions; and Rs6 billion to make the communication tower and other equipment functional again.

The Railway authorities have further suspended for the 17th time the booking of trains through online and reservation offices till October 3.

The signals system has suffered massive destruction in Lahore, Karachi, Multan and Sukkur divisions because of the floods.

Sources said this was the reason why the train operation had become chaotic. Difficulties were being faced in giving “green signals” to the trains from one station to another as many feet of water was accumulated on the tracks.

Railways communication tower and equipment have also been severely damaged by the deluge.

For the repairing of the drainage system at 41 railway yards and their restoration, an estimate of Rs2.23 billion has been made.

The summary stated that 3,187-kilometre track of ML 1, 2 and 3 has been completely destroyed.

Similarly, 1,446 railway bridges and culverts have been damaged, of which two railway bridges were completely destroyed in Quetta division. One of the two bridges in Sukkur and Karachi divisions has been washed away too.

A total of 1,181 railway bridges have been damaged and a sum of Rs433.81 billion has been estimated for their restoration and the construction of 259 new ones.

Because of floods, 109.40 kilometers of tracks in Chaman, Mirpurkhas, Khokhrapar, Hyderabad, Quetta and Sialkot sections have been completely destroyed.

A stretch of 68.123 kilometers of tracks was partially damaged in this section.

To repair the damage and for safety in the future, an amount of Rs17.79 billion will have to be spent on this section and the construction of 79 new bridges.

In the summary, funds have been requested separately for other development work at the seven divisions of the railways.

More than Rs17 billion for Lahore, Rs82 billion for Karachi, over Rs19 billion for Sukkur, Rs12 billion for Quetta, Rs25 billion for Peshawar, Rs74 billion for Multan and Rs13 billion for the Rawalpindi divisions have been sought.

The Railway authorities have put off the booking process of trains between Lahore, Karachi and Sukkur online and at reservation offices till October 3.

Additional Railways Infrastructure General Manager Arshad Salam Khattak said funds had been sought from the ministry for the restoration of the infrastructure.

He added that the Railways staff was working day and night on the flood-affected sections using their own means.