ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Railways on Tuesday raised serious concern over the illegal and unauthorised occupation of Pakistan Railways’ 34,763 residential accommodations.

It also expressed displeasure over the absence of Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi and said a formal letter would be written to the prime minister about his absence.

The meeting of the standing committee was held today at Parliament House under the convenership of Senator Shahadat Awan.

The meeting was attended by Senators Kamil Ali Agha, Bushra Anjum Butt, Dost Ali Jeesar along with the secretary Railway Board and other concerned officers.

IG railways told to file FIRs, evict illegal occupants and hand over quarters back to administration

Mr Awan stated that out of the total residential accommodations, 2,323 quarters were illegally occupied and 1,732 occupied by individuals with no connection to Pakistan Railways.

Additionally, 321 quarters were occupied by unauthorised persons with no clear association while 209 quarters were occupied by retired employees of the Ministry of Railways.

The IG railways informed the committee that they had conducted a survey two months ago, which showed that 1,087 quarters had been sub-let by authorised or former occupants, 804 quarters were illegally allocated, 236 involved in illegal activities and 27 were being used for commercial purposes such as running water filtration plants etc.

The committee raised serious concern over the whole system of the railways.

The committee chairman said unauthorised occupants were using all utilities, including electricity and water, with electricity meters often registered under unofficial names or remaining unmetered.

The committee members said legitimate railway employees on waiting lists were deprived of government housing despite available infrastructure, roads and other amenities.

The committee directed the IG to file FIRs, evict illegal occupants and hand over the quarters back to the railway administration.

The committee acknowledged the successful resumption of the Mohenjo Daro Express.

Noting its positive public reception, another proposal was highlighted to resume the Khushal Khan Khattak Express which is the running route from Peshawar to Karachi.

Recommendations were made by the members of the committee to develop and upgrade key heritage stations like Ranipur Court Railway Station to facilitate accessibility and encourage tourism. Non-functional stations across Pakistan should be evaluated for restoration.

The chairman raised strong concerns regarding the repeated absence of the minister for railways and the minister of state from the Senate standing committee meetings as their presence was vital for the proceedings. The chair, therefore, directed that a formal letter should be written to the prime minister highlighting the absence of ministers for railways and highlighted the sanctity of the committee.

The committee reprimanded officials for submitting incomplete reports on pending litigation, theft, misappropriation, track damage and freight losses.

It was pointed out that lower court cases which included criminal cases, theft, missing track infrastructure were omitted from the provided documentation.

The chairman granted 10 days deadline to the Ministry of Railways to submit a comprehensive, updated report covering all pending cases across all judicial forums.

The committee observed that the cases filed by the ministry itself were not fixed for hearing for so long. It included the cases pending before the courts since 2018.

The chairman also enquired about the working mechanism of the law department and asked about the strength of officers and officials working with it, to which the secretary railways stated that there were around 300 officers and officials and there was a need for improvement in the system.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha raised the issue about journalists’ travel concession, to which the CEO informed the committee that the matter shall be addressed by a separate public relations wing which deals with the matter pertaining to the journalists and update the committee about it.

The committee directed the Ministry of Railways to submit its recommendation report within the stipulated timeframe.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2026