The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has identified six policy reforms to strengthen railway system in Pakistan and across the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) region saying that railways across the region must consider implementing key reforms that would make them more efficient and financially sustainable. A new study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) assesses the state of CAREC railways and identifies opportunities for investment, commercialization, and reform. By implementing key reforms, railways across the region can help increase economic growth and improve the lives of ordinary people. According to the study Pakistan railways has 466 locomotives and 16,159 freight wagons out of which 23% of locomotives and 24% of wagons are unserviceable.

The study said most of the regional railways currently use accounting systems that do not follow internationally recognized commercial standards. These old systems cannot accurately measure the true financial performance of railway entities or separate the financial performance of each business activity. The region railways must develop modern commercial accounting systems that provide reliable and transparent real-time information about costs, revenues, and financial performance. Strengthening staff expertise in operating the system and using it to analyze railway performance is also crucial. Furthermore, railways need to introduce enterprise resource planning systems to help them adopt more commercial approaches that would increase productivity and profitability.

Credit:
Independent News Pakistan-INP