NASC On Railways For Prioritizing Track Rehabilitation, Resolving Pension Issues

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Apr, 2025) National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways, Tuesday, recommended to prioritize rehabilitation of existing railway tracks to improve passenger as well as freight operations and increase the revenue of Pakistan railways.

The NA Committee, met here with Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan in chair, also recommended the railway authorities to pay attention on renovation of railway stations, augment anti-encroachment efforts, operate inter city trains between Karachi and Hyderabad and resolve issues of pensioners on priority basis.

The Meeting was attended by the committee members Nuzhat Sadiq, Ibrar Ahmed, Waseem Qadir, Sadiq Ali Memen, Rafiq Ahmed Jamali, Ramesh Lal, Syed Waseem Hussain, Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui, Muhammad Ilyas Choudhary, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Zulfiqar Ali and Shafqat Abbas while MNA Dr Nafeesa Shah participated as special invitee.

Federal Secretary and Chairman Pakistan Railways Mazhar Ali Shah, IG Railway Police Muhammad Tahir Rai, CEO Aamir Ali Baloch, and other senior railway officers briefed the committee on Thar Coal Rail connectivity project, renovation of railway stations, rehabilitation of tracks, transfer of railway land from provincial governments to federal government or Pakistan Railways, reinforcement of Railway Police to take effective actions against encroachments and other matters.

The meeting was informed that the 114 kilometer Thar Rail Connectivity Project has received administrative approval in May 2024 with an estimated cost of Rs 53.726 billion while work is in full swing and expected to be completed by end of the year 2025. The project will connect the Thar coal mines with the existing railway network and facilitate transportation of the coal via Chhor and Mirpurkhas to thermal power generation plants at Jamshoro, Port Qasim and other areas of the country.

The chairman PR informed that currently freight carrying capacity of Pakistan Railways is 8% which could be enhanced with current rolling stock to 14-15% by rehabilitating the track while participation of private sector may further increase it to 20-25%. The committee was told that Pakistan Railways will introduce an online freight booking facility soon as software in this regard has been developed and is under testing phase.

On the agenda of intercity train service between Karachi and Hyderabad, the committee was informed that all the passenger and express train have stop at Hyderabad junction while PR is also working on operation of intercity railway service in collaboration with provincial government and private sector.

The committee was also briefed about renovation of major railway stations around the country and progress on the matter of transfer of land by the provincial governments to the Federal government or Pakistan Railways.

The Chairman PR informed the committee that Pakistan Railways is going to launch a countrywide grand operation for removal of encroachments over railway lands. All divisional superintendents will provide data of encroached land and necessary support for the operation while assistance of provincial administration and police as well as law enforcement agencies will also be acquired for the campaign.

On the issue of payments to pensioners, the committee was informed that the issue of salaries has been resolved while cases regarding payment of pension up to September 2022 have been dealt with while over Rs 13 billion liabilities had been piled up which would further increase this year.

Disbursement of gratuity and pension amount to retired employees is made through a grant by the finance division. Pakistan Railway has requested the finance division to streamline the system and integrate it with the central pension system of other government departments to resolve the issue for good, Chairman PR said.

Committee has recommended devising a permanent solution to the issue of retired employees, facing hardships due to non-payment of gratuity, pension and other dues for over 2 years, which may include provision of one time grant to Pakistan Railway to settle outstanding amount and integration of PR pensions in to government’s national pension payment system.

On a referred question about railway facilities and infrastructure in district Khairpur, the committee was informed that 14 kilometer railway track has been rehabilitated near Khairpur Mirs and sectional speed has been raised from 40 KMPH to 105 KMPH while 10 trains have stops at the Khairpur Station.

The committee recommended further improvement of the said track and provision of services of more express and passenger trains at Khairpur and carrying out necessary development work at the station while preserving the historical significance of the heritage building.

Later, Chairman of the committee Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan informed the media about proceedings of the meeting and said that Thar Coal rail connectivity and ML-1 are important national projects which may play an important role in economic development of the country.

Pakistan Railways is our national asset and the committee is determined to play its role in an effective manner to improve the overall performance of PR and ensure better facilities to the public.