Pakistan Railways (PR) has demanded Rs 1 billion from the federal government for paying monthly salaries and pension to railway staff. Sources in the Railways on Wednesday said the government had paid only Rs 500 million until now that were not enough to meet the needs. They added that Railways was in need of Rs 4 billion each month to run the system, but the government was paying only Rs 2 billion.
The sources said Railways had to face a loss of Rs 30 million due to halted trade services. They said the government had been assured that the organisation would again become independent if the government provided it proper aid for four months. Railway officials also said that PSO had provided them 0.3 million litres of oil and they were in touch with PSO for further supply.
Though the situation in the Pakistan Railways has hardly remained satisfactory over the last couple of years, the cash-strapped public utility is suddenly engulfed by serious crisis. Railways is shutting operations of more and more trains by the day and hundreds of workers are awaiting salaries for the current month. Of the total 206 trains in the network, 156 have been shut by Tuesday and more are nearing closure.
