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HELP ME! A CRY FROM "PAKISTAN

RAILWAY"
Published on September 15, 2014

Syed Imran Abbas Follow

2 2 0
Risk and Compliance Oicer at Link Group (LNK)

PakistanRailway

Presentstatus:

Pakistanrailwayiscurrentlyinadisarray
conditionandmayleadtocompletefailureif
thingsarenotturnedaroundsoon.Dueto
shortageoflocomotivesandfuelthePakistanRailwayhasdecidedtohaltitsgoods
traincompletely.Theorganizationhasnotbeenabletocomeoutoffinancialcrisis
despiteofseveralbailoutsgivenbythegovernmentandhasseizedaround115ofits
services.Till1980,PakistanRailwaywasresponsiblefor65%ofthefreighttrafficin
thecountry,by2009itfellto15%andcurrentlyitstandsat1%whichmeansitmost
profitablesegmenthasbeensnatchedaway.

DuringtheFinancialYear20122013,totalearningsofthePakistanRailwaysamounted
toRs.18,069,545,871consistingofRs.13,536,130,202(74.91%)frompassengers
Rs.984,250,770(5.45%)fromluggage,parcels,mails,etc.,Rs.1,984,808,695(10.98%)
fromfreight,andRs.1,564,356,204(8.66%)fromtelegraphsandothermiscellaneous
sources.(Source:StatisticalPakistanRailways)

InordertoturnaroundthesituationofPakistanrailwaydrasticstepsarerequiredwith
completesincerityanddevotion.Severalstrategiesarediscussedbelowwhichmayturn
PakistanRailwayintoaprofitableunitforPakistanieconomy.

1.Politicalinfluenceandinterferenceshouldbeeliminatedentirelyfromtheoperation
ofPakistanRailway.Employmentshouldbegivenonmeritandinatransparent
manner.TheministryofRailwayshouldnotinterfereintheoperationsand
administrationofPakistanRailway.

2.Thetopmanagementshouldberunbyexpertrailroaderswhohavestrong
knowledgeregardingmultifacetedrelationshipsofvariousdepartmentsofPakistan
Railway.

3.PakistanRailwayhasbeenstigmatizedbyhighlevelsofcorruptionappointments
onbasisofpoliticalaffiliations,bribery,andlackoftransparencyintheprocessof

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awardingtenderstocontractorsetc.Employeesinvolvedincorruptionshouldbe JoinToday SignIn

dealtwithzerotolerance.Eachpositionshouldhaveawrittendetailedjob
descriptionandtheperformanceoftheemployeesshouldbeappraisedaccordingto
thatjobdescriptionandbonusesandpromotionsawardedaccordingly.

4.ThePakistanRailwayisburdenedwithhighnumberofemployeesincomparisonto
itsnetwork.Dismissalofabundantemployees,nonduplicationofworkand
alignmentofsimilarprocessesshouldbecarriedout.Acompletebusinessprocess
reengineeringisrequiredtoeliminateduplicationofwork,streamlinethecore
processesandutilizeresourcesinformofassets,workersandresourcestotheir
fullest.

5.Railwaynolongercanbeconsideredasamonopolybusinessnowtheyfacestiff
competitionfromothermoodsoftransportation.However,competitionisnoexcuse
forlowperformance,PakistanRailwayshouldaggressivelymarkettobusinesses
thatrailwayismorecosteffective,lesspollutingandmostsuitablewayfor
transportationofmassgoods.Furthertheyshouldformstrategicallianceswithtruck
transportersforlongerroutesasrailwaywouldbemoreeffectiveonthem.Similarly
variouspackagesshouldbemarketedtocustomerssuchasgrouptravel,discounted
fares,andrailwaytravelcardsetc.

6.OvertheyearsPakistanRailwayhasdecreaseditsnetworkintermsofroute.The
primaryreasonbehindthisisnarrowgaugelines.ThedemographicsofPakistan
havechangedtremendouslywithmanyruralareasturningintourbancentresand
manycommercialhubsbeingdevelopedindistantareas.Pakistanrailwaysshould
tapintothenewopportunitiesbyintroducinggoodstrainservicestothose
commercialhubsandpassengerstrainservicestonewurbancentres.Furthermore,it
shouldmakefunctionallocalcircularrailwayinmajorcitiessuchasKarachi,
Lahore,Islamabad,Rawalpindi,Faisalabad,MultanandPeshawar.Thesecircular
railwayrouteswillgiveboosttotherevenueswithnoadditionalinvestment.

7.Routeswithneighbouringcountriesshouldbemadefunctionalwithfocusontrade
routes.ExistingroutessuchWagahAttariwithIndiaandTaftaanZaidaanwithIran
shouldbemadefunctionalandnewinternationalroutesshouldbeworkedupon.
Linkswithinternationalrailroutesshouldbemadewhichisessentialinthiseraof
tradeglobalization.

8.LandmafiahasbeenarealnightmareforPakistanRailwayintherecentyears.
TheyhaveencroachedprimerealestatepropertiesofPakistanRailway.Pakistan
Railwayneedtotakestringentstepswiththeaidoflawenforcementagenciesto
freethesepropertiesofallencroachmentsandmafia.Propermanagementofthese
propertiesisvital,sellingunnecessarypropertiesandrentingouttheotherswill
generatesuitableamountoffunds.

9.Thecurrentoperationalstatusoflocomotives,coachesandwagonisinaquite
shabbycondition.TherepairandmaintenanceshopsunderPakistanRailwayhave
beenunderperformingandhavefailedtogivetherequiredsupporttothe

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operationalinfrastructure.Thestaffoftheseshopsshouldbegivenpropertraining JoinToday SignIn

andtoolssothattheycanprovidebetterservices.Feasibilityshouldbecarriedoutin
ordertoexploretheoptionofclosingtheseshopsandoutsourcingthetask.

Theabovementionedstrategiesifexecutedwithsincerityandefficiencymayimprove
thegrimpictureofPakistanRailwayandtransformthemintoaprofitableandviable
institution.

Syed Imran Abbas

Risk and Compliance Oicer at Link Group (LNK) Follow
9 articles

2 comments Newest

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Muhammad Hamid Aziz Siddiqui 2y

Mariner
You!
Like Reply

Ammad Hassan 2y
General Manager HR - Bahria Town (Karachi)
well.....who will bell the cat?
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