If Pakistan Railways is declared as slow and inefficient railway of the world, then it will not be wrong because its classes are unique, but if this slowness is equipped with facilities like Brotherly China did that, then it can earn a lot of income.
In a state of China, the slowest business train is run, on which the poor and middle class board and sell their goods, and the needy get off after buying their necessities this train runs daily.
China’s railway authorities have made plans for their growing population to benefit them, but our authorities are unfortunately unable to make such plans those can help the needy people. On the other hand we know that India is one of the countries with the best railway system in the world, while the systems of America, Europe, China and Japan have no competition. Even we do not even think of competing with the railway system of neighboring Iran who have one of the great mass railway transport system.
So the new PMLN led federal government needs to work on it. It should be remembered that yesterday Pakistan Railways made news by running the longest freight train in its history. According to the railway spokesperson, the 2500 feet long freight car consists of 50 coaches which is driven by a very powerful engine. The average speed of the train was 38 km.
According the spokesmen of Railway, that train has the capacity to carry more weight than 94 two-wheeler trucks. It’s a Good sign but it needs to be more modified and regularized according to the needs of the traders and passengers to travel with luxury and joy. Apart from that, Pakistan Railways has decided to develop five major stations of the country on modern lines. Regarding that a meeting was held in the railway headquarters Lahore under the chairmanship of Minister of Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq, in which five major railway stations were developed on modern lines.
It was decided according to Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Quetta railway stations will be made commercial hubs. The federal minister directed the administration to immediately send staff to the Gwadar office and said that all single diesel generator sets should be doubled and cleaning arrangements at railway stations should also be improved.
However, there is a need to take more steps, the foremost of which is the ML1 project under the flagship project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Which is not moving forward despite the completion of ten years since its beginning.
Since then, four governments have changed but the project has remained controversial. In which the priorities of Tehreek-e-Insaf and Muslim League (N) governments have been the biggest obstacle, but this trend should stop now. If seen, ML1 is the liveliest project of China Pakistan Corridor which will have the most impact on the lives of ordinary citizens.
If the Peshawar Karachi Railway track is simply doubled, it will double the current speed of freight and passenger vehicles without increasing the limit, and if its speed is increased to 120-160 kph, then there will be a revolution in transport and perhaps those outdated transport vehicles that are seen running on the roads will automatically disappear.
Apart from this, the positive effects it will have on freight and transit trade cannot be estimated yet. Therefore, it is necessary that the Minister for Railways activates his contacts and talks with the Chinese authorities for the completion of this project as soon as possible so that the proposed project can be completed at a record speed. If president government succeeds in completing this first-of-its-kind project after independence of Pakistan, it will surely be counted among its outstanding achievements.
