Lahore [Pakistan], April 23 (ANI): Pakistan Railways faces an escalating crisis of severe funding shortfalls, staff shortages and operational failures, forcing passenger and freight services to run in unsafe conditions, Dawn reports.
The shortage of funds has led to neglected maintenance and damage to locomotives, coaches, wagons and tracks, increasing accident risk. Internal meetings show officers frustrated at their inability to perform duties; the Lahore Division is operating with about 50% of its sanctioned workforce, a senior official said.
Even small approvals, such as PKR 500,000, require lengthy clearance from headquarters, delaying urgent action. Staff are under intense pressure to keep trains running despite constraints. The crisis, rooted in long-term structural and financial weaknesses, has deepened over six to seven years and reached a critical point in 2026. The outgoing chief executive struggled to sustain operations and pay salaries on time, underscoring institutional strain.
Makeshift repairs are common, with parts cannibalized from some coaches to fix others. All eight railway divisions — Lahore, Karachi, Multan, Sukkur, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and the Workshop division — face similar difficulties. Officers warn that meeting operational and revenue targets under current conditions is increasingly unrealistic. In a recent meeting, Divisional Superintendent Inam Ullah Khan urged officials to prioritize improving train operations, Dawn reported. (ANI)
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