PAKISTAN Railways (PR) recorded around Rs 200.33bn ($US 1.13bn) in revenue over the past four years, while also reducing costs in an effort to become profitable.
“PR has earned Rs 49.576bn in 2017-18, Rs 54.514bn in 2018-19, Rs 47.588bn in 2019-20 and Rs 48.652bn in 2020-21,” an official from the Ministry of Railways told the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
The official said that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, PR was operating around 71 daily passenger trains, but these were suspended in March 2020. PR is beginning to phase these services back in with 45 now running. This includes trains between Lahore and Rawalpindi service, while the Lahore - Wazirabad Babu service is due to be relaunched soon.
Punctuality has also improved, rising from 71% in 2017-18 and 70% in 2018-19 to 74% in 2020-2021.
Freight
PR has launched a new rail freight service to connect ports in Karachi with industrial hubs in the north of the country, with the initial train taking four days to travel from the newly-opened South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT) to Lahore.
“We are extending our physical gates to Multan, Sialkot and Lahore as the containers will be unloaded from the ships and put on a train that will deliver them to the customers at their factory gates,” says general manager and head of business unit at Hutchison Ports Pakistan, Mr Syed Rashid Jamil. The new service is expected to boost trade and improve freight volumes, while also reducing road congestion.
