ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Railways told the National Assembly on Monday that the Railways owns a total of 168,858 acres of land across its network in the country, of which 13,115 acres, i.e. 7.7 per cent of total land, had been under encroachment.
The ministry submitted a report in the house in response to an information sought by Ms Naz Baloch of PPP, which also contained details of 2,552 acres of land retrieved in last five financial years i.e. from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
As per the report, out of an area of 2,552 acres which was retrieved, 1,078 acres of land was retrieved from Punjab -- 380 acres of commercial land, 156 of residential land, 535 acres of agricultural land and 7 acres of other land.
In Sindh, 837 acres of land was retrieved -- 132 acres of commercial land, 105 acres of residential land and 600 acres of agricultural land; while 218 acres of land retrieved from Balochistan -- nine acres of commercial land, six acres of residential land and 203 acres of agricultural land.
Similarly, 419 acres of land was retrieved from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that comprised 192 acres of commercial land, 226 acres of agricultural land and 0.7 acres of residential land. The ministry highlighted the steps that were being taken to remove encroachments from Railways land over the last three years.
According to the report, Pakistan Railways has launched a comprehensive anti-encroachment campaign in collaboration with provincial government authorities. Provincial inspectors general and chief secretaries have been requested to provide full support, including deployment of law enforcement for maintaining order.
Quarterly anti-encroachment plans have been formulated, and legal notices under the Possession Ordinance, 1965 have been issued, allowing a 14-day period for vacation of encroached land.
All of the Railways land records have been digitised, georeferenced, and integrated with provincial databases through the Pakistan Railways Land Management and Information System, which is also accessible via a mobile application for real-time tracking and efficient decision-making.
Unauthorised possessions of Railways land by the government departments are being regularised through leases under Railways land policy. Commercial encroachments are being reviewed under Remedial Policy through lease agreements involving upfront premiums and arrears.
Any illegal occupation or encroachment is dealt with legal action as per rules and regulations of Pakistan Railways. Regular anti-encroachment operations are carried out to prevent fresh encroachments. From 2020 to June, 2025, a total of 5,182 encroachment cases were reported, with a challan rate of 99.58 per cent and a conviction rate of 96.71 per cent. Out of 5,611 accused, 99.6 per cent belonged to the general public, with nearly all arrested.