RAWALPINDI, Oct 21: Pakistan Railways (PR) is learnt to have abandoned its ‘Marriage Coach’ project initiated last year since the public has taken no interest in engaging the special service in view of high costs and inconvenience.

Officials said the only coach had now been converted into a luxurious carriage available for hiring by the affluent class between Lahore-Karachi, Rawalpindi-Karachi and Lahore-Rawalpindi.

The air-conditioned marriage coach was manufactured at the Carriage Factory Islamabad during the tenure of Sheikh Rashid Ahmad as the federal minister for railways. Pakistan Railways much publicised the project, which flopped miserably within weeks of its introduction.

The Marriage Coach became a white elephant for Pakistan Railways as it made business only on a couple of occasions but its operational cost was higher than the earning.

Finding no other option, Pakistan Railways converted it into a luxurious carriage. It is also learnt that the luxurious carriage also failed to attract passengers due to the high traveling costs. The fare of single journey between Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi ranges from Rs30,000 to Rs36,000. If the security situation would have allowed movements of VVIPs by rail, the luxurious carriage may have been in use of VVIPs.

Millions of rupees were spent on the manufacturing of the marriage coach, which had the carrying capacity of 24 berths of AC business class and one bedroom for the married couple. It also had the kitchen facility with one attendant. It is generally stated that the failure of marriage coach is attributed to the declining performance of Pakistan Railways. Punctuality had always been a major bottleneck of Pakistan Railways.

Under the new general manager operations, Nasir Ahmad Zaidi, Pakistan Railways was striving hard to make significant improvements in terms of running trains, service and punctuality. Middle and low-income group prefer to travel by train in view of the rising costs of travel, and Mr Zaidi wants to benefit people from these classes.

Mr Zaidi, when contacted, told Dawn that the operation of passenger trains was being overhauled to give maximum benefit to common passengers. Capacity of several trains introduced last year was being revised to make room for more passengers.Pakistan Railways is yet to recover from the shocks of December 27 incidents during which the railways suffered heavy losses of its rolling stock in the wake of burning of trains and installations by protesters on the assassination of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto. The loss was the biggest in the history of Pakistan Railways involving damages to locomotives, new coaches, railway stations, signaling system and passenger services.

Burnt coaches of Pakistan Express and other trains are still seen abandoned near various railway stations. At least half a dozen burnt coaches have occupied a portion of track on the Rawalpindi Railway Station for the past six months.

According to Mr Zaidi, repairable coaches have been rehabilitated and put on track while those coaches beyond repair have been declared scarp. He said the rehabilitation of Pakistan Railways following the incidents of December 27 continued and remained unaffected despite the financial crunch currently facing the country.

The operations of Pakistan Railways come under the limelight when Railways has the federal minister.

During the tenure of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakistan Railways was taken to the skies but after his departure, it returned on the ground. The coalition government of PPP does not have any full-time minister looking after the affairs of Pakistan Railways.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Railways has decided to carry out a detailed study to review the existing organisational structure, management system and operational processes of Pakistan Railways, including financial management, procurement procedure, human resources management, training, capacity-building and information technology so as to improve the service delivery of railways.

The study is to be carried out on the basis of historical evidence, proposed changes for conflict-free inter- and intra-organisation relationships to ensure synergy of efforts for maximum efficiency.

The study also aims at developing marketing strategies for revenue maximisation, with separate strategies for passenger, cargo and non-rail operations.