Railway Sector of Pakistan.

 

Railway Sector of Pakistan:

Railways have played an active role in industrial development, especially the engineering industry, mining industry, spinning and weaving mills, and the food industries. It has played an active role in increasing agricultural productivity, improving external and internal trade, and providing employment.

 Pakistan Railways is the national, state-owned railway company of Pakistan. Founded in 1861 and headquartered in Lahore, it owns 7,791 kilometers of track across Pakistan from Turkham to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger services. It all began during the British Raj when several railway companies started laying local rail tracks in several districts of Sindh and Punjab. So, it can be said that the country’s rail system started as a patchwork of local rail lines, constructed and operated by small-scale, private railway companies of that time, which include the Scinde Railway, Punjab Railway, Delhi Railway, and Indus Flotilla. However, most of these companies merged and formed the North Western State Railway in the year 1880.

However, up till 1947, the year of independence, the network of the North-Western State Railway expanded throughout Sindh and Punjab. After the independence, around 8,122 kilometers (5,047 miles) of train tracks of the North-Western State Railway came under Pakistani territories. Initially, the system of railways in Pakistan was totally based on narrow-gauge train tracks. The process of the conversion of these narrow-gauge railway tracks into broad gauge railway tracks has been carried out from time to time throughout the history of railways in Pakistan.

Some of the many large-scale extension projects on the country’s railway system were carried out from the 1950s to the 1980s. As of now, all of the narrow-gauge railway tracks have either been dismantled or converted into broad-gauge railway tracks for a smoother flow of railways traffic in Pakistan. The history of railways in Pakistan has been preserved and put on display in the railway museums found in different cities across the country.

Pakistan Railway Advisory & Consultancy Services Limited, (PRACS) was created in 1976, as Public Limited Company under Companies Act 1913 and is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Railways. It has successfully completed 40 years of high quality performance in the fields of railway related and general consultancy projects. It is managed by the Board of Directors headed by Secretary/Chairman, Ministry of Railways as Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Managing Director is the executive head of the Company, assisted by Executive Directors and Managerial staff to run PRACS operational activities and projects at National and International level.

The network of railways in Pakistan is based on 11,881 kilometers (7,383 miles) of train tracks. However, around 80% of the tracks are a part of historical constructions as old as 80 to 90 years. As per the current statistics, the maximum speed on most of these railway lines in Pakistan is 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph). However, the upgraded sections of the railway line between Karachi and Peshawar allows speeds up to 130 kilometers per hour (81 mph). Moreover, under the banner of CPEC Projects in Pakistan, work is in progress to upgrade most of the major lines to allow faster train speeds up to 160 kilometers per hour (99 mph) and decrease the rate of congestion faced by railway traffic in Pakistan. The below-given table gives you details about the main railway lines in Pakistan.

 

MAIN RAILWAY LINE IN PAKISTAN

Main Line 1 (ML-1)	Karachi-Peshawar Line	1,687 kilometers
Main Line 2 (ML-2)	Kotri–Attock Line	1,519 kilometers
Main Line 3 (ML-3)	Rohri–Chaman Line	523 kilometers
Main Line 4 (ML-4)	Quetta–Taftan Line	523 kilometers
Main Line 5 (ML-5)	Taxila–Khunjerab Line	682 kilometers

Hamza Babar

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