Pakistan Railways needs to focus on its freight train service to minimise losses, despite introducing private business trains at the cost of other passenger trains, said Muqaddar Zaman, the newly elected divisional president of the Railways Mazdoor Union, in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Zaman said private companies control almost all the cargo service of the Railways, one of its most beneficial sources of revenue, as despite facing a huge loss, the Railways has never bothered to develop it for the past half-century.
Most cargo services are run by private companies and have monopoly over the inter- and intra-city transportation of goods, as the Railways has been neglecting the profitable service for the past 50 years, he added. He said the business trains’ aim to earn more profit from the service is likely to remain a distant dream, as the management of the Railways is yet to focus on the freight service, which could even now help it reduce its financial losses, if given serious consideration. Besides, he added, only three major stations, like Faisalabad, Peshawar and Multan, from the Karachi City Station have been covered by the Railways, and private companies have access to the rest of the junctions for transportation of goods. Zaman said the Railways has given the mail bogies of Chenab Express to a private company, which is now being run under the name of Hazara Express and covering only major stations. For the smaller junctions, luggage first needs to be sent to major stations like Lahore, Faisalabad, Rohri and Khanewal, costing them double charges. The Super Parcel Express, the mail train comprising 10 bogies, is also being run privately from the Karachi City Station.
