Pakistan Railways has earned Rs55 billion in the first eight months of the current financial year, despite facing a financial crisis due to floods in the monsoon season.
During the first eight months of the previous financial year, the department had earned Rs37 billion, displaying a historic increase of Rs18 billion, or 49%, in revenue in the current financial year ie, 2023-24, a railways ministry official told APP.
According to available data, the official said, the earnings of Rs55 billion so far in FY24 comprised revenue from passenger and freight trains, and other sectors of the department also made their contribution.
“The department is expecting to generate revenue up to Rs80 billion by the end of this financial year through consistent efforts and hard work of its workers,” he emphasised. At present, Pakistan Railways is operating 96 passenger trains, up from the previous year when 86 trains were running. Similarly, during the previous year, on average it operated 3.75 freight trains while the number reached seven freight trains this year.
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The official revealed that the issue of delay in payment of salaries to employees had been resolved and things would be more streamlined once work on the Mainline-I (ML-I) project kicked off.
Owing to inflationary pressures, triggered by high fuel costs, Pakistan Railways has increased its fares, both for passenger and freight segments, which will help the cash-strapped organisation to fetch better revenue over the coming months.
Responding to a question, the ministry official said that Pakistan Railways had beefed up precautionary measures to reduce passenger train accidents and only six minor incidents with no casualty occurred across the country during the last three months. “Only two train accidents took place in September, no accident happened in October and four accidents occurred in November due to effective steps of the department.”
It came in the wake of efforts being undertaken to reduce trespassing at unmanned level crossings and unauthorised locations, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2024.
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