RAWALPINDI:
Pakistan Railways achieved a record revenue of Rs 115 billion, the highest in its 178-year history, Railway Minister Hanif Abbasi revealed on Monday, while formally declaring that all railway schools and hospitals would be outsourced as part of the organisation’s privatization process.
Speaking to the media after inaugurating newly constructed operating rooms for locomotive guards and pilots at Rawalpindi Railway Loco Shed, the minister said Pakistan Railways was undergoing extensive reforms, including digitalisation, right-sizing in various departments and outsourcing of schools and hospitals under a public-private partnership model.
Abbasi said the railway had reduced 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, transport revenue had increased by 32% and land revenue across all railway divisions had increased by more than 50%.
The minister said Pakistan Railways was making record profits and rejected the Auditor General of Pakistan’s report as “misleading”, alleging that the reported 19% loss was incorrect and an attempt to undermine the department’s progress.
Abbasi said the newly inaugurated shooting halls, equipped with air conditioning, improved accommodation and uninterrupted solar-powered electricity, were the first such facilities provided to locomotive guards and pilots in 36 years. He thanked the Director General of Frontier Works Organization for upgrading the rooms and said similar facilities would be established in other major cities.
The minister also announced plans to upgrade the exterior of the Rawalpindi railway station on the Lahore pattern, saying the project had been planned in consultation with the Rawalpindi station commander and was expected to be completed in December.
