LAHORE: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has invited the private sector to invest in different ventures of the Pakistan Railways, while pledging to bring the deficit of the public entity to “zero” by eradicating corruption and reducing its expenditure by 15 per cent this year.

“I am a new Sheikh Rashid. I have not been telling a lie for the last eight to nine years and ‘Aaram Haraam Hai’ (laxity is forbidden) is the new slogan of railways,” said the minister on Saturday at his first news conference at the Railways Headquarters here after assuming charge of his office.

Announcing that two new trains would start chugging on Rawalpindi-Kundian-Mianwali, Mianwali-Kundian-Rawalpindi and Lahore-Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi-Lahore routes from Sept 15, he said that focus would be on improving freight service and marketing strategy.

Invites advertisers to rent PR spaces

Inviting overseas Pakistanis, media houses, channels and advertising agencies to utilise railway properties, the minister said rail tracks were also available for rent for any business purpose, besides 14,000 bridges for advertisement.

Mr Rashid said that before the news conference he held a marathon meeting with railways high-ups to make certain policy decisions.

“Incompetent and lazy officers will not be spared now. I have suspended (from service) three officers of freight wing of railways for showing negligence. I have directed the administration to ensure 20 per cent increase in freight and submit a report to me on a daily basis,” he said while reiterating that there would be zero tolerance for negligence and corruption.

“We are ready to hand over all railway schools and hospitals to the private sector without compromising on the rights of our employees.

“We decided to auction 60-year-old four-wheel wagons. We also decided to replace the broad-gauge track with the standard gauge. Only Pakistan and India have broad-gauge track. India is capable of manufacturing locomotives and coaches but we have to import the same and it is a major source of corruption in railways,” he said.

He said WiFi and tracking system would be operative in all passenger trains from Sept 25. Tracking system would also be installed in freight trains so that businessmen and traders could track the location of their consignments. Online ticketing system would be improved and travel agents would be invited to link with the system, said the minister while inviting courier services to use railways track.

The minister said railways was facing shortage of coaches to operate more passenger trains. A total of 606 passenger coaches had been lying idle at certain yards of railways, awaiting repair and renovation which would start at railways’ carriage factory and Risalpur workshop.

“We can renovate up to 10 coaches a month now, but if private sector joins hands the monthly tally can be 30,” said Mr Rashid.

Commercial buildings would be constructed on the PR land in big cities to increase income of the department, he said while inviting the private sector to construct five-star hotels at five available sites. A task force would also be constituted to clean the track and surroundings of the railway stations, he said.

Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the 56-kilometre track between Lahore and Rawalpindi would be realigned to reduce the travel time between the two cities.

Announcing construction of 10,000 houses for railway employees in major cities, the minister expressed the hope that not a single railways employee would remain homeless in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Multan.

Efforts would be made to shift the pension payment responsibility to the federal government as the railways was unable to bear the burden of pensioners, he said and added it would also help minimise the deficit of the department.

“More than 30 railway stations would be upgraded soon,” he said and invited the private builders to participate in the upgrading project. Chaklala railway station would also be included in the project, he added.

He said a cut of Rs1 billion had been imposed on the billing of electricity and all railways employees’ houses would be shifted to distribution companies’ meters. The pay scales of all employees, including of railways police, would be revised as their wages were not commensurate with inflation, said the minister.

He said special arrangements for people with disabilities and senior citizens would be made and elevators would be installed at all big railway stations.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2018