KARACHI: “The Railways Ministry is a big task entrusted on me by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and in these few months that I have been here, I have been trying to implement the prime minister’s vision,” said the federal minister for railways, Hanif Abbasi, while sharing their plans for improving Pakistan Railways.

He was speaking at an event organised by the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Thursday.

“The projects I’m going to talk to you about today have already taken off and you will see the results of our efforts soon,” he said.

The federal minister said that he was trying to build up the railways infrastructure within their limited resources. “We are still using coaches from the 1960s,” he said.

“Yes, we are also incorporating eight to 10 coaches from China in our trains after every two or three months. But there are so many other problems that we are facing also such as newer and faster trains but not strong enough tracks to run them on,” he said.

One way to run the railways more efficiently, according to the minister, is through outsourcing. Pakistan Railways has picked up speed while moving in that direction. “The prime minister asked me to look into outsourcing. So as I speak, 11 passenger trains have already been outsourced while another nine would also be outsourced in the next six days and the rest after that. In total there are 38 trains, which will be outsourced. Similarly, we will also be outsourcing freight trains,” the federal minister shared.

Railways minister shares PR’s plan to outsource 38 trains, eight hospitals and 14 schools

They also plan to outsource eight big Railways hospitals and 14 schools, the deals for four of which have also been finalised. But, he said, that despite these steps, their workers will not lose any benefits. In fact, railways workers and their families will receive free medical and medicines. There will be subsidised school fees in the outsourced schools for workers’ children. Further outsourcing plans also include the railways sleeper factory.

To bring passengers back to Pakistan Railways, they are looking to facilitate them by digitising their system, installing ATMs at stations along with point-of-sale terminals for easy transactions. Plus, new Commercially Important Person (CIP) lounges for passengers, new washrooms and escalators.

Efforts are also under way to improve punctuality. Hanif Abbasi said that they have signed an agreement with Asian Development Bank for a $2 million project for laying a new Karachi to Rohri track of 480km, a part of the ML-1 track. “It was the worst track where train speed had to be reduced. Finishing that track will make a big difference of four hours,” he said.

The issue of derailment has also been addressed by getting a new head of mechanics to look into that issue.

Besides Rs15 billion worth of encroached railways land has also been recovered. “And there is 50 billion worth of more property which we intend to take back,” he said.

While reminding of the importance of Karachi, the federal minister said that without this city, Pakistan loses its economy. He also said that he had been approached by landlocked countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan asking for not road access but train access for trade. “For this we have signed an agreement in Kabul for railroad access from Kohat to Karlachi [a crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan on the Durand Line] to Mazar-i-Sharif from where there already is a 75km track to Uzbekistan’s border. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan wants train access through Chaman to reach the Karachi and Gwadar ports. Besides, for the transport of our own coal and minerals from Thar Coal we have given the FWO a 105km target,” he shared.

Meanwhile, the federal minister made no mention of the Karachi Circular Railway. Even when a journalist brought it up he was sternly told to do his homework before asking questions about things, which did not concern him.

Following the KCCI event, the federal minister met Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani where under a formal agreement with the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board extensive measures will be taken to ensure cleanliness inside Karachi’s Cantonment and City railway stations, trains and their surrounding areas by using modern technology.

Later, Hanif Abbasi also met the chairman of Karachi Port Trust, Rear Admiral Ateeq ur Rehman Abid, at the KPT Head Office to discuss issues related to the Dedicated Freight Corridor as well as pertaining to the East and West wharves renewal/operations. The focus of the meeting remained on the importance of railways for cargo handling, which brought to fore the requirements of improving rail tracks nationwide as well as those linked to the Karachi Port.

The chairman informed the federal minister about their planned connectivity projects where rail links are extremely pivotal as they offer a solution to address traffic congestion due to port activities.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2025