Railway speed Slow downed, travel time increased to two hours
15 officers held responsible for Ghotki railway accident
KARACHI June 29, 2021: Pakistan Railways has ordered to reduce the speed of trains as 46 places on the track as highly sensitive in Sindh. This slowed down speed will increase around two hours travel time.
Experts say, increased travel time and pathetic condition of track will reduce the capacity of railway to compete with the NLC and other road transporters. It will further lead to more losses and less competitive.
Railways infrastructure was crumbling because of ageing and poor maintenance.
According to the report of railway officials, 153 km out of 456 km track from Tando Adam to Khanpur on the up track is badly damaged, where 21 places have been declared as highly sensitive.
Similarly, 181 km down track from Khanpur to Tando Adam on the down track from Punjab to Karachi has been severely affected, where 25 places are most sensitive.
The speed of passenger trains at sensitive points of both the tracks has been reduced from 105 km per hour to 10 to 80 km per hour, which has also extended the travel time on both sides by 2 hours.
Freight trains have been backbone of the Pakistan railways budget. In 1980s, freight trains were earning profit and transported goods in bulk, i.e., wheat, coal, urea and imported consignments at port were cleared through rail. The introduction of the NLC (National Logistic Cell) affected the rail business and its downfall started, particularly in respect of imported goods.
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