LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways (PR) has chalked out a Plan B in case its mega Main Line-1 (ML-1) project, which is said to be a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), faces any further delays.

The PR has also decided to focus on passenger safety following the growing number of rail accidents.

“Under Plan B, we will launch work for the improvement of the existing track by arranging funds on our own,” PR Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Aijaz Ahmad Buriro, who is also the senior general manager (SGM), responded when asked about reports of slowing down or packing up of the CPEC-related projects owing to alleged International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions.

Says work will be launched on improvement of track with own funds

Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid had, in his last press conference, rejected the reports related to alleged conditions imposed by the IMF on implementation of CPEC-related projects, including ML-I. He also termed it propaganda by the opposition, claiming that Prime Minister Imran Khan would soon get this mega project signed during his upcoming visit to China. He had also declared the ML-I economic lifeline of the PR.

Mr Buriro, who took over charge 10 days ago, hoped that there would be no issue with ML-I. “Nonetheless, we are well prepared to execute Plan B in case of any issue.”

When asked why the PR management launched 24 passenger trains and had planned 15 freight trains on a decaying track despite several fatal and non-fatal accidents during the last six months, the CEO claimed that maintenance of the track was a routine job, admitting that the condition of the track was not up to the mark in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Kotri yards and some other portions.

“We cannot hold the track responsible alone, as there are other reasons also behind the rail accidents such as human error, negligence or technical. Problems with the track exist in the areas of Sukkur and Karachi division. We have mobilised some teams, who are currently engaged in rehabilitation of the track,” Mr Buriro claimed.

Defending the decision of running new trains, the SGM termed it the need of the hour to strengthen deteriorating financial condition of the department -- an organisation of around 95,000 employees.

“Once we operated 240 trains on this track and the number has now squeezed to 136, but we are heading towards reviving this operation. Side by side, we are also focusing on passengers’ safety by maintaining the track, training drivers, upgrading the system etc.”

Talking about the declining passenger occupancy in trains due to fear of accidents, Buriro said it always happened in case of accidents, but lasts for a while only, as the trains have started heading towards full occupancy.

“You will find trains full of passengers, many of whom travelled without tickets. When you check sale of tickets, you will find it decreased. So the issue is ticketless passengers who must be caught and penalised,” he added.

When asked about an inquiry launched against him (while he was the additional mechanical general manager) into alleged contractual violations in purchase of hopper wagons in 2016-17 from a Chinese company, Mr Buriro rejected the allegations, stating that he was neither a part of the procurement team nor the preshipment inspection committee.

“I myself brought it to the notice of my superiors regarding some issues related to manufacturing of wheel bearings of the wagons. It was a misunderstanding on the part of the former CEO. I had told him that if there is any issue with the bearings, we can claim new ones under a warranty provided by the firm. There were no contractual violations on my part,” he claimed.

He said the process to procure new passenger coaches and goods wagons was under way. “But we will not award this project through a single-tender method, as we want more firms to participate in the process,” he added.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2019