Pakistan Railways

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This article is about the rail company in Pakistan. For technical details and operations see: 'Transport in Pakistan'.

Pakistan Railways is the state-owned railway company of Pakistan. It is a large organization under the administration of the Pakistani Government's Ministry of Railways. Pakistan Railways provides an important mode of transportation in the farthest corners of the country and brings them closer for Business, sight seeing, pilgrimage and education. It has been a great integrating force and forms the life line of the country by catering to its needs for large scale movement of people and freight.However, it is in dire need of funds.

Pakistan Railways Headquarters in Lahore, Pakistan

1 History of Pakistan Railways
2 Passenger Traffic
3 Freight Traffic
4 Pakistan Locomotive Factory, Risalpur
5 Current Problems
- 5.1 Gauge
- 5.2 Accidents
6 Development plans
7 Electrification
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
11 Train Crash History

[edit] History of Pakistan Railways

The possibility of Karachi as a sea port was first noticed in the middle of 19th century. Sir Henry Edward Frere was appointed Commissioner of Sindh after its annexation with Bombay in 1847 and sought permission from Lord Dalhousie to begin a survey for a sea port. He also initiated the survey for a Railway line in 1858. It was proposed that a railway line from Karachi City to Kotri, steam navigation up the Indus and Chenab rivers up to Multan and from there another railway to Lahore and beyond be constructed.

It was on 13 May 1861 that first railway line was opened for public traffic between Karachi City and Kotri, the distance of 105 miles. The line between Karachi City and Kiamari was opened on 16 June 1889. During 1897 the line from Keamari to Kotri was doubled.

The railway line from Peshawar to Karachi closely follows Alexander’s line of march through the Hindu Kush mountains to the Arabian Sea. Different sections on the existing main line from Peshawar to Lahore and Multan and branch lines were constructed in the last quarter of 19th century and early years of 20th century.

The 4 sections i.e. Scinde (Sindh) railways, Indian Flotilla company, Punjab railway and Delhi railways working in a single company were later on amalgamated into Scinde, Punjab & Delhi railways company and was purchased by the Secretary of State for British South Asia in 1885 and in January, 1886 it was named North Western State Railways which was later on renamed as North Western Railways.

At the time of independence, 1947 route miles of North Western Railways were transferred to India leaving 5048 route miles to Pakistan. In 1954, the railway line was extended to Mardan and Charsada, and in 1956 the Jacobabad-Kashmore 2’-6" line was converted into broad gauge. The Kot Adu-Kashmore line was constructed between 1969 and 1973 providing an alternative route from Karachi up the country.

The total length of railway tracks in Pakistan is 8,163 km. The busiest routes include:

1. Peshawar-Karachi Route

2. Peshawar-Quetta Route

3. Lahore-Sialkot Route

4. Lahore-Faisalabad Route

5. Faisalabad-Khanewal Route

etc

The major stations & junctions between Peshawar and Karachi include:

Peshawar, Noushehra Jn., Attock city, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Lalamusa Jn., Gujrat, Wazirabad Jn., Gujranwala, Lahore, Lahore Cantt., Raiwind Jn., Okara, Sahiwal, Chichawatni, Mianchannu, Khanewal Jn., Multan cantt., Lodhran Jn., Bahawalpur, Samasatta Jn., Khanpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiqabad, Pannu Aqil Cantt., Rohri Jn., Khairpur, Bhiria Road, Nawabshah, Tandu Adam, Hyderabad Jn., Kotri Jn., Landhi Jn., Karachi cantt. and Karachi City.

The major stations & junctions between Peshawar and Quetta are:

Peshawar to Rohri Jn. (same as above), Sukkur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad Jn., Dera Murad Jamali, Sibi Jn., Ab-e-Gum, Mach and Quetta

[edit] Passenger Traffic

Passenger comprise 50% of the Railways total revenue. During 1999-2000 this amounted to Rs. 4.8 billion. Pakistan Railways carry 65 million passengers annually and daily operates 228 Mail, Express and Passenger Trains. Daily Passengers carried 178,000. Pakistan Railways also operate special trains during occasions like congregations of the Dawat-e-Islami and the Tableeghi Ijtima.

[edit] Freight Traffic

The Freight Business Unit with 12000 personnel, operates over 200 Freight Stations on the Railway Network. The Unit serves two major ports of Karachi and Bin Qasim as well as all the four provinces of the country and generates revenue from the movement of Agricultural, Industrial and imported products, Petroleum Oil & Lubricants (POL), Wheat, Coal, fertilizer, Rock Phosphate, Cement, Container traffic and Sugar. About 39% of the revenue is generated from the transportation of POL products, 19% from Imported Wheat, Fertilizer and Rock Phosphate. the remaining 42% is earned from domestic traffic. op Lifter in operation.

The Freight Business unit offers services to meet customers requirements and reduce costs through efficiency, innovation and modernization. All possible efforts are made to increase revenues and pass on the benefits to customers. The Freight Business Unit is headed by an Additional General Manager

The Freight Rates structure is based on market trends particularly of road transport, which is the Railways' main competitor. The freight rates are no longer rigid but flexible, depending on the lead, peak off peak season, and quantum offered.

[edit] Pakistan Locomotive Factory, Risalpur

Pakistan Locomotive Factory at Risalpur is a public spread on area of 251 acres of land, was put into service in 1993 with the collaboration of Government of Japan at a total cost of Rs.2284.00 million including a foreign exchange component of Rs.1496.00 million. The rated out part of the factory 2 Diesel Electric Locomotives per month on single shift basis which can be doubled by introducing 2nd shift working. The factory is equipped with the state of the art equipment which can be employed in building of D.E.Locomotives of a horse power and Electric Locomotives with minor adjustments.

Since 1993, twenty three PHA -20 type D.E.Locomotives of 2000 H.P have been rolled out of the factory. The on going project of AGE-30 D.E.Locomotives of 3000 H.P. is at the verge of its completion, which is a milestone in the history of the factory. Apart from manufacturing new locomotives, the Pakistan Locomotive Factory has also successfully rehabilitated 5 D.E.Locomotives of GRU-20 Type and manufactured other various spares/components for railways maintenance divisions and Rehabilitation Project. Pakistan Locomotive Factory is a national asset which apart from domestic needs can fulfill the pressing demands of the new millennium.

[edit] Current Problems

[edit] Gauge

Pakistan railway still suffers from a mixture of gauges, 1676mm and 1000mm, but this is being gradually tackled by converting the narrow gauge lines to broad gauge, with little narrow gauge remaining.

[edit] Accidents

Ghotki Trains Crash
- In its worst accident in recent years, three passenger trains collided on 13 July 2005, derailing 13 carriages and leaving at least 120 dead. The Karachi Express ran into the back of the Quetta Express while it was stopped at a station near Ghotki, and the Tezgam Express travelling in the opposite direction hit several of the derailed carriages. According to officials, the conductor of the Karachi Express misread a signal (see Ghotki rail crash).

Wikinews has news related to:

Train crash in southern Pakistan kills more than a hundred

Super Parcel Express
- On 21 Aug 2005, the upcountry Super Parcels Express jumped the rails while crossing the Malir Bridge near Landhi in the Karachi Division. Eight bogies were substantially damaged when an axle broke due to over loading. The rail traffic was suspended for 24 hours. All down trains were terminated at Landhi and the rakes and the locos made the turn around from Landhi.

[edit] Development plans

In May 2006, Ministry of Railways announced that a railway tracks between Gwadar and Quetta will be built. The Bostan-Zhob small gauge railway line would be converted into broad gauge within one year. These two projects will be developed at a cost of $ 1.25 billion (Rs. 75-billion).

In addition, there are several ongoing schemes of expansion into West Asia and electrification worth over $2 billion over the next five years. [1]

Also, a high-speed (almost 300km/h) railway between Punjab and Sindh is planned at a cost of $1 billion [2].

[edit] Electrification

Pakistan does not have any electrified railways, but any new electrified long distance lines would almost certainly be the world standard of 25kVAC.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

The IRFCA Server Pakistan Railways Train Names
Ministry of Railways, Pakistan

[edit] External links

[edit] Train Crash History

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Categories: Rail transport in Pakistan | Railway companies