The Lahore-Karachi double track will be completed by March 2013, while two additional trains, under the Public Private Partnership, would commence soon.
A Pakistan Railways official said that not a single locomotive had been added to the Railways’ fleet since
2008. He said that Railways was ready to provide track facilities to the private sector if it wanted to run its own locomotives.
He said that the Track Access Policy was likely to be finalised soon. He said that Pakistan Railways was heading towards a revival as a number of steps had been taken to turn it into a profitable institution, and it had earned Rs 650 million more than the previous year.
He added that fuel and utility bills were eating up a bigger portion of the federal government’s funding to the Railways.
He said that since 1995 fuel prices had registered a surge of 800 percent while the Railways had increased freight train fares by 105 percent and passenger train fares by 70 percent. Mughalpura Dryport needed uplift on an urgent basis and the process would be completed at the earliest to facilitate businessmen. The movement of shipments through train is considered safe, economical and quick, he said.
He added that Pakistan Railways had been left with a fleet of 100 locomotives to run its entire operations, including 200 trains and freight services.
