No proposal to privatize Pakistan Railways: NA told

Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique Friday told the National Assembly that there is no proposal under consideration to privatize Pakistan Railways.

He informed the House during question hour that private partnership‚ however‚ will be promoted to provide better traveling facilities to the commuters.

About the steps being taken to make Pakistan Railways a profitable department‚ the Minister said freight train operation will gradually be increased and by the end of this year at least six trains will be operated to daily basis‚ which will help generate revenue of 20 to 25 million rupees per day.

At present three freight trains are being operated on daily basis which has resulted in increase of revenue by ten million rupees. In passenger sector‚ the fair structure has been readjusted to facilitate and attract more passengers to avail the facility of train services. This‚ he said‚ will help increase revenue generation by seven to ten percent.

The Minister said that special teams have been formed to conduct surprise raids to control the menace of ticket less revenue.

He said Pakistan Railways is in the process to procure 208 new locomotives besides rehabilitation of dysfunctional locomotives. He said the entire fleet of locomotives has lived its age and these need to be replaced with new ones. He said a plan is under discussion to revive and built capacity of railways workshop.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad informed the House that the present government has given a package of 12.70 billion rupees to Pakistan International Airlines for its restructuring.

He said the national flag carrier faced loss of about 60 billion rupees during the last two years due to mismanagement and inaction on the part of previous PPP government.

He said the PIA has a fleet of 32 aircraft and of these ten are on ground. He said the government’s package will help bring these ten aircraft in the system.

The Minister of State said that six small aircraft will be procured on lease for PIA to provide better traveling facilities to the domestic travelers. Similarly‚ he said big aircraft will also be procured for international flights.

To a supplement question‚ Shaikh Aftab Ahmad said the government is giving priority to the early completion of Islamabad International Airport.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Aug 30 2013. Filed under Business, Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.