Derailed company: Cash-strapped Railways faces uncertain future

Once thriving national carrier’s downfall mainly attributed to shortage of engines.

LAHORE:

The reputation of Pakistan Railways (PR) may be impaired due to the delay in arrival and departure of services; but the driving force that pushed the national carrier, after observing decade’s long dignity and pride among the passengers, on the verge of collapse is shortage of locomotives.

The once thriving national carrier had now become the ‘last choice’ as mode for travel among travellers owing to adverse conditions, missing facilities, cleanliness and delay in arrival/departures, a number of senior Railways officials, requesting anonymity, said.

Majority of the available fleet is old and refurbished, which has lost efficiency and requires heavy funding to maintain, making them unaffordable for the financial crisis-hit PR to operate the trains and observe arrival and departure times schedule at any track, they added.

PR’s management had recognised eight factors contributing to the present state of the company; however no prudent action was taken to revive the carrier, the sources said.

Presently, 148 locomotives have been identified that are still in working condition to pull more than 80 services on various routes in the country, which include 69 engines bought from China in 2002. However, most of the engines have completed their official 20-year economically fit life span. The cash-strapped national carrier has been left with no choice but to spend voraciously on maintenance.

On the other hand, non-provision of passenger coaches also contributed to the downfall as PR was not able to conduct repair work due to scarce funds, an official of engineering wing said.  The maximum coaches attached to an engine vary between the minimum of six and maximum of 18.

Moreover, the outdated signalling system, used to monitor and supervise train operations, has also been identified as a hindrance to efficiency. Although, an electro-mechanical automatic signal system was installed to monitor activity, the system malfunctioned during abrupt weather conditions and repeated power outages; resulting in delays.

The PR had a mechanism to carry out maintenance of railway tracks but due to many incidents of theft left unaddressed, illegal construction on tracks was rising across the country. “Although, accidents were being reported on these crossings but installation of gates required huge capital, so the government was not in a position to finance it,” an official said.

When contacted, PR spokesperson Zubair Shafi Ghauri said required spare parts for locomotives had been received and overhauling of five to seven engines was being done every month. The federal government on the request of the PR management had released funds for the repair and overhauling of 27 locomotives which were used for trade traffic. These locomotives, after overhauling process is completed, will be brought on track within one year, Ghauri said.

“It is true shortage of locomotives was the biggest cause of delay in arrival and departures,” Ghauri acknowledged.

The government of Pakistan is in the process of purchasing 150 locomotives from the United States, which will be put into operation within two years. As many as 75 locomotives will be purchased from China, Ghauri added. Regarding the signalling system and track monitoring, Ghauri said efforts were in progress to upgrade these systems.

PR has many times launched public awareness campaigns to educate residents residing along the tracks to avoid trespassing. Anti encroachment campaign has also been tarted to retrieve land and clear the tracks, Ghauri added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2012.