RAWALPINDI:
Pakistan Railways achieved a record turnover of Rs115 billion, the highest in its 178-year history, Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi revealed on Monday, while formally declaring that all railway schools and hospitals would be outsourced as part of the organization’s privatization process.
Addressing the media after inaugurating new running rooms for guards and locomotive pilots at the locomotive shed of Rawalpindi Railway, the minister said Pakistan Railways was undergoing extensive reforms, including digitalization, right-sizing in various departments and outsourcing of schools and hospitals under a public-private partnership model.
Abbasi said the railway had reduced its operating costs by Rs 3.6 billion within four months of taking charge, adding that the organization was on track to meet its current revenue target by July 6. He said five trains had already been outsourced, freight revenues had increased by 32% and land revenues in rail divisions had increased by more than 50%.
The minister said Pakistan Railways was making record profits and dismissed the Auditor General of Pakistan’s report as “misleading”, saying the reported loss of 19 per cent was incorrect and an attempt to undermine the department’s progress.
Abbasi said the newly inaugurated running halls, equipped with air conditioning, improved accommodation and uninterrupted solar electricity, were the first such facilities provided to guards and locomotive pilots in 36 years. He thanked the Director General of Frontier Works Organization for upgrading the halls and said similar facilities would be created in other major cities.
The minister also announced plans to upgrade the exterior of Rawalpindi railway station on the lines of Lahore, saying the project had been planned in consultation with the Rawalpindi station commander and is expected to be completed by December.
