Taking serious notice of the deteriorating trains' service across the country, President Asif Ali Zardari has called a meeting of Railways Ministry on Tuesday (today). The meeting of the Railways Ministry with President Zardari on Tuesday (today) will discuss financial crises, organisational restructuring plan and closure of trains on some routes, informed sources revealed to Business Recorder.
Senior officials who will attend the meeting said that PR is not expecting any financial support to be announced in the meeting, however they are expecting some important decisions regarding revamping of PR. General Manager Pakistan Railways will brief the president on the deteriorating condition of the organisation due to locomotives shortage, no future plans and closure of trains, sources maintained.
Federal Minister for Railways Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, General Manager PR Saeed Akhtar, Chairman PR Javed Iqbal and other senior officials would participate in the meeting. PR is confronting a severe financial crunch, which has resulted in closure of several passenger train routes. According to the officials, 58 trains on different routes have so far been made non-operational in last few months. Operational deficit of PR has skyrocketed to Rs 38 billion due to shrinking passengers and freight operation. During the financial year 2010-11, PR earned total revenue of Rs 18.3 billion against the budgeted target of Rs 28 billion, registering a shortfall of Rs 9.7 billion. Similarly revenue of only Rs 12 billion is expected during the current financial year.
The Cabinet Committee on Restructuring (CCOR) of Public Sector Enterprises on August 5 approved Rs 11 billion for PR, to make it financially viable. The body decided to provide Rs 6.1 billion through a banking consortium for rehabilitation of locomotives, Rs 4 billion will be provided through re-prioritisation of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 2011-12 for improvement of tracks and rolling stock while line of credit from Pakistan State Oil (PSO) to PR has been increased to Rs 2 billion to ensure smooth supply of oil.
However, no amount has yet been released to PR, a senior official of the Railway Ministry revealed. The body will also discuss the early release of the said amount in the meeting with the president. Due to a shortage of engines 115 trains have been temporarily closed by PR. Officials said that without the release of the financial package it would be difficult to keep trains on track.
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