imageISLAMABAD: The auction of billboards and signboards sites has contributed Rs 57 million to Pakistan Railways during last year.

The activity included auction of 105 sites to nine advertising agencies during first phase when the task was assigned for the first time to commercial branch of the department.

The second phase of this activity has also been finalized and further Rs 53 million is to be earned through it which included auction of 200 sites to 21 advertising agencies in 31 cities all over the country.

According to Pakistan Railways here, it has adopted numerous measures to reduce losses which included dialogues with donor agencies and foreign funding to purchase new locomotives to increase number of operational locomotives.

It said tariff is being regularly rationalized based on the market dynamics mainly to improve occupancy and increase revenue.

Moreover, availability of locomotives has been improved through special repair of existing locomotives and procurement of new locomotives. At present six freight trains are leaving daily from port area of Karachi, and this situation will improve further in future.

The other step was control over expenditure through computerization of payment and pension to eliminate Ghost Pensioners and rule out possibility of overpayment.

The efficiency of workshops is being increased by getting deposit works from other Departments/Provisional governments and private sector to enhance labor productively.

The menu for dining cars has been revised to ensure good quality food to the passengers with provision of branded items, hygienic cooking and quality of food ingredients has been emphasized.

Punctuality of trains has been improved to regain confidence of passengers and freight consignors while oil reserves have been improved from two hours to twelve days level to improve operational efficiency.

Similarly, the department said a comprehensive policy for disposal of surplus scrap has been introduced with an aim to improve financials through an open, fair and transparent process.

At present Pakistan Railways is making constant endeavors to enhance its earning both in passenger and freight sector and is going ahead in respect of earnings as compared to budget but a definite time limit cannot be given at present.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2014

Comments

Comments are closed.