Railways revenue surges twofold in last seven years

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Railways’ revenue soared more than twofold to Rs50 billion during the last seven years as the state-owned enterprise took numerous measures in freight and passenger transportation sector during the period, officials said on Tuesday.

The officials, during a briefing to Prime Minister Justice (retired) Nasir-ul-Mulk about the performance of Pakistan Railways, said the company’s revenue amounted to Rs15.5 billion in the fiscal year of 2011/12.

Minister for Railways Roshan Khursheed Bharucha, Secretary to the Prime Minister Suhail Aamir, Secretary Railways Muhammad Javed Anwar and senior officers of the Ministry of Railways attended the meeting at PM’s Office, according to a government’s statement.

The PM was briefed about organisational structure, rail network in the country, past performance and the future development strategy under the National Vision 2025 in the Railways sector.

He was also briefed about the new business plan and various initiatives taken, both in freight as well as passenger transportation sector, for the revival of Railways and increasing its revenue.

“As a result of right mix in service the passenger share in Railways has increased from 13pc in 2013 to 31pc in 2017,” the statement added.

The meeting was told about the progress made in various rail network extension projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “With coming of the CPEC project, there is a huge potential and scope for Pakistan Railways to further improve its performance and increase its share both in passenger as well as freight transportation sector by offering quality services to its customers,” the statement quoted him as saying.