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Pakistan Railways is the State-owned railway company of Pakistan. It is a large organization under the administration of the Pakistani Government's Ministry Of Railways . ''Pakistan Railways'' provides an important mode of transportation in the farthest corners of the country and brings them closer for Business, sight seeing, pilgrimage and education. It has been a great integrating force and forms the life line of the country by catering to its needs for large scale movement of people and freight. , Pakistan ]] HISTORY OF PAKISTAN RAILWAYS The possibility of Karachi as a sea port was first noticed in the mid of 19th century and Sir Henry Edward Frere who was appointed Commissioner Of Sindh after its annexation with Bombay in 1847 sought permission from Lord Dalhousie to begin survey of sea port. He also initiated the survey for Railway line in 1858 . It was proposed that a railway line from Karachi City to Kotri , steam navigation up the Indus and Chenab rivers upto Multan and from there another railway to Lahore and beyond be constructed. It was on 13 May , 1861 that first railway line was opened for public traffic between Karachi City and Kotri, the distance of 105 miles. The line between Karachi City and Kiamari was opened on 16 June , 1889 . During 1897 the line from Keamari to Kotri was doubled. The railway line from Peshawar to Karachi closely follows Alexander’s line of march through the Hindu Kush mountains to the Arabian Sea . Different sections on existing main line from Peshawar to Lahore and Multan and branch lines were constructed in the last quarter of 19th century and early years of 20th century. The 4 sections i.e. Scinde ( Sindh ) railways, Indian Flotilla company, Punjab railway and Delhi railways working in a single company were later on amalgamated into Scinde, Punjab & Delhi railways company and was purchased by the Secretary of State for British South Asia in 1885 and in January, 1886 it was named North Western State Railways which was later on renamed as North Western Railways . At the time of independence, North Western Railway’s 1847 route mile was transferred to India leaving route miles 5048 to Pakistan. In 1954 , the railway line was extended to Mardan and Charsada section and in 1956 Jacobabad - Kashmore 2’-6’’ line was converted into broad gauge. Kot Adu - Kashmore line was constructed between 1969 to 1973 providing an alternate route from Karachi to up country. PASSENGER TRAFFIC Passenger earnings comprise 50% of the Railways total revenue. During 1999 - 2000 this amounted to Rs. 4.8 billion. Pakistan Railways carry 65 million passengers annually and daily operates 228 Mail, Express and Passenger Trains. Daily Passengers carried 178,000. Pakistan Railways also operate special trains during occasions like congregations of the Dawat-e-Islami and theTableeghi Ijtima. FREIGHT TRAFFIC The Freight Business Unit with 12000 personnel, operates over 200 Freight Stations on the Railway Network. The Unit serves two major ports of Karachi and Bin Qasim as well as all the four provinces of the country and generates revenue from the movement of Agricultural, Industrial and imported products, Petroleum Oil & Lubricants (POL), Wheat, Coal, fertilizer, Rock Phosphate, Cement, Container traffic and Sugar. About 39% of the revenue is generated from the transportation of POL products, 19% from Imported Wheat, Fertilizer and Rock Phosphate. the remaining 42% is earned from domestic traffic. op Lifter in operation. The Freight Business unit offers services to meet customers requirements, reduce costs through efficiency, innovation and modernization. All possible efforts are made to increase revenues and pass on the benefits to the customers. The Freight Business Unit is headed by an Additional General Manager The Freight Rates structure is based on market trends particularly of the road transport which is Railways main competitor. The freight rates are no longer rigid but flexible, depending on the lead, peak off peak season, and quantum offered. PAKISTAN LOCOMOTIVE FACTORY, RISALPUR ''Pakistan Locomotive Factory'' at Risalpur is a public spread on area of 251 acres of land, was put into service in 1993 with the collaboration of Government Of Japan at a total cost of Rs.2284.00 million including a foreign exchange component of Rs.1496.00 million. The rated out part of the factory 2 Diesel Electric Locomotives per month on single shift basis which can be doubled by introducing 2nd shift working. The factory is equipped with the state of the art equipment which can be employed in building of D.E.Locomotives of a horse power and Electric Locomotives with minor adjustments. Since 1993, twenty three PHA -20 type D.E.Locomotives of 2000 H.P have been rolled out of the factory. The on going project of AGE-30 D.E.Locomotives of 3000 H.P. is at the verge of its completion, which is a milestone in the history of the factory. Apart from manufacturing new locomotives, the Pakistan Locomotive Factory has also successfully rehabilitated 5 D.E.Locomotives of GRU-20 Type and manufactured other various spares/components for railways maintenance divisions and Rehabilitation Project. Pakistan Locomotive Factory is a national asset which apart from domestic needs can fulfill the pressing demands of the new millennium. CURRENT PROBLEMS Gauge Pakistan railway still suffers from a mixture of gauges, 1676mm and 1000mm, but this is being gradually tackled by converting the narrow gauge lines to broad gauge. Accidents
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