LAHORE, Nov 9: The high-ups of the Pakistan Railways will be gathering here on Thursday (today) to find out “reasons for failure to meet the revenue targets set by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for the organization.”
The railways was over Rs1.4 billion short of the target during the first four months of the 2005-06 fiscal.
Sources told Dawn on Wednesday that Minister for Railways Mian Shamim Haider would preside over a meeting at the PR headquarters, which had been convened also to seek explanation of the officers concerned for lack of progress on nine development projects.
The prime minister, sources said, had taken a serious note of the railways’ inability to achieve the targets and goals set by him and directed the ministry to explain the reasons.
The projects were doubling of the Lalamusa to Khanewal track by December last year, procurement of 100 KC (open) wagons, rail link from Gwadar Port area to the container yard, procurement of 100 additional locomotives, manufacturing or assembly of 1,000 freight wagons and 150 passenger coaches in Pakistan, track rehabilitation, production of sleepers in adequate quantity and the Khokhrapar-Mirpurkhas meter gauge to broad gauge conversion.
The PR high-ups, sources said, would finetune the working papers presented before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Railways in Islamabad on Oct 31.
The NA body was told that “freight has been the major contributor in the income of the railways and it decreased after the supply of oil from Karachi to up-country started through pipeline. Relief activities after the Oct 8 earthquake like running of freight train to the affected areas, provision of free travel facilities to the people also hit the income.”
Shortage of locomotives and wagons was another major reason that was badly affecting the freight operations of the railways, resulting in decrease in its overall earnings, the NA body was told.
Efforts were under way to ensure availability of wagons and locomotives at the Karachi port and other dry ports by reducing the turn-around time of freight trains, the PR authorities informed the NA body.
Delay in transfer of funds to the railways was stated to be the reason that hampered required progress on the development projects.
EARNINGS: The railways was over Rs1,491.268 million short of the budget target from July 1 to Oct 30.
Sources said the railways budget target was Rs6,826.447 million while the approximate income, including military traffic earnings, remained Rs5,335.179 million during the period.
The proportionate actual earnings for the same period of the previous year was Rs5,508.122 million, which was Rs172.943 million less than the approximate earnings for the period, sources said.
The income in passenger sector was Rs220.414 million less than the target of Rs3,331.198 million, as it could earn Rs3,110.784 million. However, it was Rs137.858 million more than the proportionate actual earnings for the same period of previous year, which was Rs2,972.926 million.
The freight income during the period was Rs1,376.550 million — Rs623.310 million less than the target of Rs1,999.860 million. The proportionate actual earning for the same period of previous year was Rs1,685.042 million, which was Rs308.492 million less than the approximate income.
The income in sundry sector was Rs590.219 million less than the target of Rs971.794 million as against the earning of Rs381.575 million. The proportionate actual earnings in the sector for the same period of previous year was Rs402.990 million, showing a decease of Rs21.415 million.
The organization earned Rs283.551 million in the other coaching sector, which was Rs2.280 million less than the Rs285.831 million target. However, it was Rs75.394 million more than the proportionate actual earnings for the same period of previous year, which was Rs208.157 million.
In the military traffic head, the railways income decreased by Rs55.045 million as its approximate earnings remained Rs182.719 million against the target of Rs237.764 million from July 1 to Oct 30.
The proportionate actual earning in the military traffic head for the same period of previous year was Rs239.008 million, sources said.