Rail has always been one of the safest and cheapest forms of transport for the masses, but the sector has been badly ignored in Pakistan due to a crisis of governance. Pakistan Railways is the most visible symptom of our ailing state infrastructure. The cheapest mode of transport has been criminally neglected for decades, rendered an orphan across the years. With rapid increase in losses and suspension of several trains over the last few years, the graph of Pakistan Railways is only going down and its future looks uncertain.
Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour has said several times in the past that if the government does not take decisive steps for the revival of the organisation, railways would be facing a certain closure. Despite heavy funding of Rs 10.2 billion recently offered for railways’ revival, there seems no good omen for the organisation, as its situation is moving from bad to worse. The railways now has 120 locomotives, but no income for staff and pensioners come Eid. Owning to the shortage of engines, around three dozens trains are cancelled or delayed each day. Commuters have been angry with the railways administration because they have to wait for several hours due to the delays and cancellation. Nature has also not been very kind to Pakistan Railways either.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority, recent floods incurred losses of Rs 6.7 billion to the rail network, as several hundred kilometres of track were washed away. Coaches were also the targets of angry mobs and arson attacks after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. A comparison of Pakistan and Indian railways over the last 65 years reveals that the Pakistani organisation is in historic crisis. Recently, railways received a Rs 10.2 billion-bailout package from the government. The total length of rail tracks in Pakistan is 5,072 miles and Pakistan Railways carries 65 million passengers annually. In 2000, railways had 502 engines, which are now reduced to 120 in operation. It collects less than 20 percent of its revenue from freight, bears massive losses and has been hardly able to pay employees and pensioners.
On the other hand, Indian Railways (IR) has more than 39,901 miles of track and 7,083 stations. It has the world’s fourth largest railway network after the US, Russia and China. The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country and carry over 30 million passengers and 2.8 million tonnes of freight daily. It is one of the world’s largest commercial or utility employers, with more than 1.6 million employees. The Indian Railways owns over 230,000 (freight) wagons, 60,000 coaches and 9,000 locomotives. A railway official said on condition of anonymity that “rulers were building road networks and motorways in the name of development, yet no one thought about upgrading and maintaining the railways network”. He said railways made much progress under the previous regime, but due to the negligence of the incumbent government and railways administration, the organisation was facing a critical situation.
