Railways’ accommodations: Senate body concerned over illegal occupation

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Railways has raised serious concern over the illegal and unauthorised occupation of Pakistan Railways’ 34,763 residential accommodations, including 2,323 quarters illegally occupied, 1,732 occupied by individuals with no connection to Pakistan Railways, 321 by unauthorised persons with no clear association, and 209 by retired Ministry of Railways employees.

The IG Railways briefed the committee that they conducted a survey two months ago and it has been identified that authorized or former occupants have sublet 1,087 quarters, 804 quarters are illegally allocated, 236 quarters are involved in illegal activities, and 27 are being used for commercial purposes such as running water filtration plants, etc.

The Senate panel raised serious concerns over the whole system of Railways. The Chairman, Senator Shahadat Awan, said that unauthorized occupants are using all the utilities, including electricity, water, and sewage, with electricity meters that are often registered under unofficial names or remaining unmetered while incurring costs for Railways, which is very strange.

Some members of the parliamentary body raised concerns that legitimate railway employees on waiting lists are deprived of government housing despite available infrastructure, roads, and other amenities.

The Committee directed the Inspector General (IG) to file FIRs, evict illegal occupants, and hand over the quarters back to the railway administration. The Chairman, Senator Shahadat Awan, directed the Secretary Railways to look into the matter and take serious action regarding all the issues.

The committee acknowledged the successful resumption of the Mohenjo Daro Express.

Noting its positive public reception, another proposal was highlighted to resume the Khushal Khan Khattak Express, which is the running route from Peshawar to Karachi.

During the meeting, recommendations were made by the members of the committee to develop and upgrade key heritage stations like Ranipur Court Railway Station to facilitate accessibility and encourage tourism and It was emphasized that non-functional stations across Pakistan should be evaluated for operational restoration.

The Chairman Committee raised strong concerns about the repeated absence of the Minister for Railways and the Minister of State from Senate Standing Committee meetings, as their presence is vital to the Committee’s proceedings. The Chair, therefore, directed that a formal letter should be written to the Prime Minister highlighting the absence of the Minister for Railways, and emphasized the sanctity of the Committee of the Upper House.

The Committee reprimanded the officials for submitting incomplete reports on pending litigation, theft, misappropriation, track damage, and freight losses.

It was pointed out that lower court cases, which include criminal cases, theft, and missing track infrastructure, were omitted from the provided documentation.

The Chairman, Senator Shahadat Awan, granted a 10-day deadline to the Ministry of Railways to submit a comprehensive, updated report covering all pending cases across all judicial forums.

The Committee further observed that the cases filed by the Ministry itself had not been fixed for hearing for so long. It included the cases pending before the Courts since 2018. It was further deliberated that certain details of the pending cases provided by the Ministry were flawed, as many of those cases were already disposed of by the concerned Courts, of which the Ministry was not aware, and submitted to the Committee that those cases were pending for arguments.

The panel’s Chairman, Senator Shahadat Awan, also enquired about the working mechanism of the Law Department and asked about the strength of officers and officials working in the Law Department, to which the Secretary Railway briefed the committee that around 300 officers and officials are working, which is very less and there is a need for improvement in the system.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha raised the issue of journalists’ travel concession, to which the CEO informed the Committee that the matter shall be addressed by a separate public relations wing, which deals with matters about the journalists and will update the Committee about it.

The agenda nos: III & IV were deferred due to the absence of the Minister and State Minister.

The Committee directed the Ministry of Railways to submit its comprehensive brief and recommendation report within the stipulated timeframe. With this, the Committee was adjourned for further discussion in its next meeting.

The meeting was attended by Senator Kamil Ali Agha, Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, and Senator Dost Ali Jeesar. The Secretary Railway Board, CEO/Federal Government Inspector of Railway, IG Railway, DS (Lahore, Karachi & Sukkur), Legal Advisor, along with other concerned officers and official representatives, attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026