LAHORE, July 18: Pakistan Railways can be steered out of the ongoing crises only through unconventional steps that can immediately halt the slide it has been facing for the last four years or so.

“Everything is possible, but needs the will and a determined team to overcome shortage of locomotives that has brought the whole system to a standstill,” former minister of state Ishaq Khan Khakwani told Dawn on Monday.

“The immediate solution to this shortage is that PR should enter into a contract with the Indian Railways to get a certain number of locomotives on lease for freight only and utilise them exclusively for long haulage of goods from Karachi port to up-country destinations.

“If onions can be imported from India to meet the market demands why can’t the Indian locomotives cross over the border, especially when both rail systems are the similar in all respects?” maintained Mr Khakwani who had set the ball rolling on the issue and worked out certain modalities.

“Threads can be picked up from there and a deal can be closed as Indian locomotives are needed much more now than in 2004-05 when I was there. Indian Railway’s organisation RITES is managing over two dozen railways in Africa and other countries. The leasing contracts drawn by the parties are in public knowledge and the terms of these can be improved upon as to meet our requirements. We had worked out that leasing of locomotives can be made profitable, after paying the leasing charges, if it ran for 500 km in 24 hours.

“Once the leased locomotives start moving our rolling stock getting rotten, the economics of the whole PR will change as
money will start to flow in that would make the mare go!”

Proper utilisation of available resources would also help a lot, he said.

“During my tenure as minister I remember travelling at 7am by Lahore Express (Chinese air-conditioned coaches) which reached Rawalpindi at 10:30am. On my query, the then Rawalpindi divisional superintendent said the same rake will depart for Lahore at 7pm and reach there at 10:30pm. Total utilisation of coaches and locomotive was seven hours and covered 350 miles (or 550km). The whole rake with locomotive cost was about Rs300 million. I asked the then DS, the general manager
and chairman to utilise the rake efficiently and this was done,” said Mr Khakwani.