LAHORE, Sept 4: Shortage of locomotives and wagons at the Karachi Port Trust is badly affecting the freight operations of the Pakistan Railways, resulting in decrease in its earnings.
The organization was over Rs623.569 million short of the budget target for the first two months of the 2005-06 fiscal.
Sources told Dawn on Sunday that some eight goods trains had been in transit for the last one week or so for want of as many locomotives, which had been given either for other train operations or to the railway divisions for local requirements.
“Sufficient number of locos and empties (wagons) at the KPT is not being provided deliberately by the officer concerned, who wants either to be transferred to some other lucrative post or to go on leave,” according to sources.
They said Karachi Divisional Superintendent Junaid Qureshi had also lodged a complaint with Railways Chairman Shakil Durrani in this regard.
There were 25 empties at the KPT on Sept 2 and the count rose to 92 on Sept 4, which were not sufficient to arrange the required number of rakes of goods trains for upward destinations.
“At least 72 wagons are required to arrange a rake and over 300 empties should remain available at the KPT for smooth freight operations from Karachi,” sources said.
They said the railways budget target was Rs3,370.978 million while the approximate income, including military traffic earnings, remained Rs2,747.409 million from July 1 to Aug 31.
The railways income in passenger sector was Rs103.009 million less than the target of Rs1,738.776 million, as it could earn Rs1,635.767 million.
The freight income during the period was Rs674.87 million — Rs251.056 million less than the target of Rs925.926 million.
The income in sundry sector was Rs221.279 million less than the target of Rs446.728 million as against the earning of Rs225.449 million.
The organization earned Rs123.723 million in the other coaching sector, which was Rs14.771 million less than the Rs138.494 million target.
In the military traffic head, the railways income decreased by Rs33.454 million as its approximate earnings remained Rs87.6 million against the target of Rs121.054 million from July 1 to Aug 31.
The overall income of the organization, sources said, remained Rs426.515 million against the budget target of Rs578.008 million from Aug 21 to 31. —Zaheer Mahmood Siddiqui