Shift cargo from roads to rail: railway official

Divisional superintendent says rail freight 3 times more fuel efficient, can save Karachi roads, unlock regional trade

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KARACHI:

Divisional Superintendent of Pakistan Railways (PR), Mehmoodur Rehman Lakho, has said that 99% of Pakistan's cargo moves through Karachi, warning that unless freight is shifted from roads to rail, the city's road infrastructure will continue to deteriorate under the strain of heavy outbound vehicles.

Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Lakho said the purpose of his visit was to explore ways to revive and strengthen rail freight connectivity from Karachi to Pakistan's major industrial and commercial centres. "Shifting to rail freight is not only economically beneficial but also environmentally responsible," he said. "Rail transport is three times more fuel-efficient than road freight, helping reduce carbon emissions, conserve foreign exchange, and ease pressure on highways."

He highlighted the strides Pakistan Railways has made in modernising its freight operations over the past decade. Between 2013 and 2015, the department added more than 1,400 hopper wagons, over 2,000 high-capacity flat wagons, and 55 modern locomotives. These upgrades increased payload capacity from an average of 20 tonnes to 60 tonnes per wagon, enabling each train to transport over 4,000 tonnes of cargo.

However, Lakho expressed concern over the delayed implementation of the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), calling it critical to expanding the country's rail cargo network. Without ML-1, he said, Pakistan Railways remains limited in its capacity to deliver long-haul, high-speed cargo services across Karachi, Sukkur, Multan towards the northern regions. He also shared plans to revive international rail freight links from Karachi to Moscow via Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. This corridor, he said, could unlock new export markets, especially for textiles and industrial products.

Lakho said Pakistan Railways is exploring modern logistics solutions such as multimodal freight, dedicated industrial cargo trains for export sectors, and Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) wagons that can carry entire loaded trucks by train—bypassing congested highways and reducing costs. He expressed willingness to collaborate with KCCI to identify freight priorities and launch pilot routes connecting Karachi with Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar.

Chairman of the Businessmen Group (BMG), Zubair Motiwala, welcomed the initiative, describing it as a long-overdue effort to rebuild the historic partnership between the business community and Pakistan Railways, which had been eroded by years of neglect and overreliance on road transport.