ISLAMABAD: Inconsistent government policies are among major reasons for deterioration in the performance of Pakistan Railways, according to Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, he said that railways needed 410 operational locomotives, but only 122 locomotives had been bought over the past 20 years.

‘Governments have invested more on developing the road network, neglecting the railways,’ Mr Bilour said. ‘We are operating some locomotives which are 40 years old.’
 
The minister said that trains ran late not only because of single track at most locations but also because of old and slow-moving locomotives.

He said there were daily complaints about trains having been stopped because of faults in locomotives.

In 1992, Pakistan exported locomotives to Bangladesh, but now the country has to import them. ‘It is because locomotive production units have become worthless over the years,’ he said.

The minister said that tracks were in poor condition at many places ‘even on the main line’. The government, he said, was not investing on track rehabilitation and as a result, a train from Rawalpindi ‘takes up to four hours to reach Peshawar, because it cannot move faster than 60-65 kilometres per hour due to weak tracks’.

The minister avoided answering questions about operational losses and corruption. He said that the railways’ total debt was Rs35 billion and foreign loans of Rs21 billion.

However, he said, efforts were being made to improve the cargo service. ‘We are opening our doors to private sector and there are plans to outsource some operations.’
 
About the recent train accident in Karachi, the minister said that it was caused by human error. The passenger train’s driver had not stopped at the red signal, he added.

The driver, assistant driver, six other personnel, including the station master of Juma Goth and the divisional transportation officer, Karachi, had been suspended and an inquiry was under way.

The minister said that an automatic system was being introduced. It will stop trains automatically even if the driver ignores the red signal.

The system, he said, would be installed by the middle of the next year on the Karachi-Lahore track.

He said that the $300 million system would be imported from Sweden or Canada with a loan from the Islamic Development Bank.