WITH the multibillion dollar ML-I project — a key part of the CPEC initiative aimed at upgrading the railway line between Karachi and Peshawar — making no headway, the government seems to have renewed its attempts to rehabilitate the decaying rail structure from its own pocket. According to a Pakistan Railways official, the department plans to invest Rs12bn on rehabilitating its tracks as well as improving signalling and communication systems during FY26. Additionally, the authorities intend to spend Rs10bn on the repair and maintenance of the rolling stock. During the last couple of years, the government has repaired and replaced the tracks in Sukkur Division, where most derailments and accidents have taken place in recent times. Last year, it spent Rs22bn from the federal development programme on railway infrastructure repair and replacement to revive the long-neglected rail sector. Besides federal funds, PR authorities are also using a part of their revenues for infrastructure.

This is a welcome development; the dilapidated railway infrastructure, especially the decrepit tracks, has been responsible for dozens of fatal train accidents and hundreds of derailments. The investment is showing in the declining number of accidents and derailments. However, the federal funds being allocated for railway work are a mere fraction of what needs to be invested to provide safe and comfortable travel facilities to millions of low-income passengers, particularly for longer destinations. The operational improvements and enhanced freight activity, due to better infrastructure, have also resulted in increased railway revenues, which are said to have climbed from Rs45bn in 2018-19 to Rs93bn in the last fiscal. That said, the railways’ sustainable turnaround will depend on the complete modernisation of the infrastructure as envisaged under the ML-I plan and privatisation. The department needs to be bifurcated into separate entities and companies — each responsible for providing different services — while encouraging private investment in freight and passenger train operations. The one-off expenditure spikes and initiatives such as the Business Express train service recently inaugurated by the prime minister, or temporary boosts in freight traffic, can accomplish only so much. Much work remains if PR is to shed its reputation for poor safety standards, inefficient services and financial haemorrhaging. The sooner it is done the better.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2025