Railways recovers 2,552 acres from encroachers, NA told

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Railways has presented a report in the National Assembly revealing that Pakistan Railways generated a total revenue of Rs139.30 billion (Rs13,930.47 million) through the leasing and licensing of railway land over the last three financial years (2022-23 to 2024-25).

The ministry further informed the National Assembly that Pakistan Railways owns a total of 168,858 acres of land across its network, out of which 13,155 acres—approximately 7.7 percent—are under illegal occupation.

In response to a question by Sher Afzal Khan, the ministry also presented a province-wise breakdown of the encroached land. According to the data, a total of 13,155 acres have been encroached upon: 712 acres of commercial land, 3,226 acres of residential land, 1,173 acres of agricultural land, 365 acres under other categories, and 3,889 acres occupied by government/defence departments

In Punjab, the total encroached land is 5,717 acres: 288 acres (commercial), 869 acres (residential), 1,809 acres (agricultural), 212 acres (others), and 2,539 acres (government/defence departments). In Sindh, the total encroached land is 5,590 acres: 280 acres (commercial), 1,802 acres (residential), 2,635 acres (agricultural), 109 acres (others), and 764 acres (government/defence departments).

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the total encroached land is 1,033 acres: 87 acres (commercial), 427 acres (residential), 150 acres (agricultural), 109 acres (others), and 347 acres (government/defence departments).

In Balochistan, the total encroached land is 775 acres: 57 acres (commercial), 168 acres (residential), 79 acres (agricultural), 22 acres (others), and 349 acres (government/defence departments)

To retrieve the encroached land, the Pakistan Railways administration has undertaken several steps over the last three years like launching a comprehensive anti-encroachment campaign in collaboration with provincial government authorities, requesting support from provincial IGPs and chief secretaries, including law enforcement deployment for maintaining order, formulating quarterly anti-encroachment plans and issuing legal notices under the Possession Ordinance 1965, allowing a 14-day eviction period, digitising and geo-referencing all railway land records, now integrated with provincial databases via the Pakistan Railways Land Management and Information System (PRLMIS), which is also accessible through a mobile app, regularising unauthorized possession of land by government departments through leases under the Railway Land Policy, reviewing commercial encroachments under the Remedial Policy via lease agreements with upfront premiums and arrears and taking legal action against all illegal occupations under Pakistan Railways’ rules and regulations.

From 2020 to June 2025, Pakistan Railways reported 5,182 encroachment cases, achieving a challan rate of 99.58% and a conviction rate of 96.71%. Of the 5,611 accused, 99.6% were from the general public, nearly all of whom were arrested; only 20 remain at large. As a result of these efforts, 2,552 acres of the encroached land have been successfully retrieved from 2020-21 to 2024-25 across the railway network.