Pakistan Railways earned a significant operational revenue of Rs28.263 billion from July to December 2022 despite the closure of train operations during flood devastation. “The expenditure in the same period stood at Rs52.990 billion with 35% going for payment of pensions and 33% to salaries of the employees,” according to an official document, reports WealthPK. The company received a subsidy of Rs21.750 billion as a grant-in-aid from the federal government. However, the net deficit for the July-December period amounted to Rs2.977 billion, the document said.

Pakistan Railways is trying to transform itself into a profitable organisation despite financial constraints. The department in this regard has developed a two-pronged action plan that focuses on core activities and revenue generation through non-core activities. However, decades of neglect when it comes to investment in railway infrastructure and rolling stock have adversely impacted the performance of the department.

The document said the first half of the current financial year 2022-23 brought more bad news for the department as the unprecedented floods played havoc with the already dilapidated infrastructure. It not only resulted in revenue loss for railways as train operations remained suspended for more than 35 days, but also put a further burden on the department in terms of restoring traffic through its meagre resources.

About the core activities, the document said the company prepared a business plan in January 2023 to increase its revenue and reduce expenditure through improved governance. The plan is being implemented in letter and spirit. The recent initiatives towards digitisation in the form of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Railway Automated Booking and Travel Assistance (RABTA) also aim to increase efficiency and reduce the revenue-expenditure gap.

The department has restarted its premium train service, Green Line, from January 2023, which consists of new Chinese coaches equipped with infotainment services like LEDs, Wi-Fi and public address systems. The company also plans to import 230 passenger coaches from China, out of which 46 coaches have already arrived, while the rest would be assembled in the country through transfer of technology.

Regarding the emphasis on revenue generation through non-core activities, the document said Pakistan Railways recently presented a business plan to the Supreme Court and successfully pleaded before it to allow the department to utilise its land for revenue generation. Some other avenues are also being explored to improve the revenue potential of the department, including the business potential through the laying of optical fibre cable along the railway tracks and branding of trains and stations.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk