There are mixed reactions regarding the railway affairs in the county. On the one hand, new endeavours are made to connect the country through rest of the world through trains, while on the other hand, the Pak Railway is in the news for continuing train accidents in the country, particularly during the last decade. Rail ride is the common man’s ride and in the current era of inflation it is no less than a blessing. The railway department is facing numerous problems but the authorities are trying to make it a profitable enterprise.

Conquering the world’s most difficult mountain ranges, including the Karakoram in the north of Pakistan, seems like an impossible challenge, but the ideal friend and great trading partner, the People’s Republic of China, has taken the world by surprise by constructing several such projects. Which can be seen mentioned in the world records. According to a report, a plan to lay a 1860 km long railway line from Gwadar to Kashgar via Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad has been designed to connect Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province, which was proposed on the occasion of the inauguration of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor program in 2014. To the extent that progress was made, recently Chinese experts have confirmed its feasibility and budget allocation for initial work. In this regard, the feasibility of a mega project with a cost of 58 billion dollars has been developed under which the construction of the said railway line is part of the wider plan to restore the ancient Silk Road. According to construction experts, this project will help reduce the dependence on the traditional routes of Western countries, which will prove to be multilateral, including commercially connecting several regions of the world. This state-of-the-art railway system is very attractive to global investors, including the proposed passenger train system, thus Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and China will emerge as the most efficient corridors for eastern and western countries. It should be noted that the ML-1 project of Karachi to Peshawar Railway is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Agreement, while the most difficult phase in the Gwadar and Kashgar program is the management and availability of the required funds, for which both governments can provide adequate incentives to investors.  In 2021, Pakistan, Iran, Istanbul freight train service was restarted after a 9-year hiatus. It is hoped that this service will promote trade in Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. This rail service between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey will cover a distance of 6500 thousand kilometers. This will speed up the transportation of goods.

On the other hand, before the global epidemic Corona, about 71 trains of passenger trains were running on the entire network of Pakistan Railways, but due to the epidemic, the train operation was suspended on March 2020. After that, Pakistan Railways was restoring train operations in a phased manner and so far 45 trains have been restored across the network. Rail cars were restored between Lahore and Rawalpindi after the reduction in the spread of Corona epidemic. Due to the tireless efforts of the management, the punctuality ratio of passenger trains in Pakistan Railways improved by 74% last year. Punctuality of trains and concrete measures taken by the government have added more than 20 million passengers to the system which is a major proof of the success of the department. In the past, the punctuality of passenger trains was 40%, which reached 71% in the year 2017-18

On the other hand, the increasing train accidents in the country are matter of serious concern and needs to be taken notice of in comprehensive manner.

The latest incident of fire in the business class of the Karachi Express from Karachi to Lahore  last week in which 7 people including a woman and four children were burnt alive is very sad and it is necessary not only to examine it carefully but also to take effective measures. Special attention should be given to implementing measures to prevent future incidents of this nature. During the previous regime, many people who were going to attend Tablighi Jamaat gathering died due to the fire that broke out in the bogie. Investigative reports of some of the tragedies that happened at the gates, including major train accidents, are definitely compiled, but It would be good to pay more serious attention to the conclusions drawn from them and on the one hand the measures to prevent accidents should be more effective and on the other hand to make the various stages of travel easier for the passengers from the purchase of tickets. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister of Railways taking notice of the incident should strictly follow the instructions given including inquiry, treatment of the injured. However, it should not be overlooked that keeping the bogies in proper condition, timely repairing the broken doors of the toilets and eliminating the culture of malpractice and bribery at various stages is also the responsibility of the railway authorities. Transparency in the ticketing system is the biggest sign of the organization’s reputation. While keeping in mind the timing of the trains, many problems of the passengers can be solved. It has to be kept in mind that the transport mafia considers the good performance of the railways against their interest and has damaged it and stopped a useful service like the Karachi Circular Railway. There is a need to be alert in this chapter.

Meanwhile, analysts say that with the implementation of CPEC, the structure of the railways will be  improved, by laying the railway track from Karachi to Peshawar and from Taxila to Havelian, trains will start running at a speed of 160 km instead of 90, then the rail journey will become safer and faster.

To conclude, one may appeal to those at the helm of Railway affairs to make serious efforts to make Railway not only a profitable entity but also a safe journey which is need of the hour.

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 02 2023

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