Railways 4230 Acres Land Encroached By Provinces: Senate Body Told

Railways 4230 acres land encroached by provinces: Senate body told

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 06th Oct, 2016 ) : Pakistan Railways (PR) authorities Thursday informed the Senate Standing Committee on Railways that the department had 167,690 acres of land across the country, out of which 4230 acres had been encroached by provinces.

Briefing the committee meeting, chaired by Sardar Fateh Muhammad Muhammad Hassani, the Additional Secretary of Railways said Punjab had encroached on 2171 acre land , Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 251 acre land, Sindh 1189 acre land and Balochistan 619 acre land in different categories.

The commercial, residential and agricultural land of Railways is encroached by government departments, defence department and private sector. The railways officials also briefed the committee on railways accidents occurred during the last three years, with particular reference to the recent tragic accident near Multan.

The officials submitted the report of Multan accident to the committee in which nine persons were declared responsible for the said accident and railways authority has taken action against them.

Replying to committee's consideration of the public petition pertaining to preservation of Hassan Abdal railway station, the officials informed the committee that the department is going to upgrade the said station as National Engineering Services Pakistan declared the building dilapidated as it was built in 1893.

Minister of Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique said that Railways has started its own e-ticketing system across the country. He said currently, Pakistan Railways have only 45 reservation offices across the country, but now with the launch of this facility travelers will have access to 45,000 UBL Omni branches.

Initially introduced for the routes of Lahore-Rawalpindi Railcar and Islamabad-Karachi Green Line Train, it will be expanded to other routes within a matter of eight months. The minister informed the chairman that the performance of Railways police has been improved through induction of young educated officers on merit as they have been appointed through Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

He said the department has also retrieved many acres of land from different departments and in some areas the land was regularized in favour of Rangers.