PiA Railways The significance of a good train system is critical to the economy of the country which is based on a good

affordable and an efficient railways infrastructure, including new engines, bogies, tracks and bridges. One train engine can pull up to more than 500 bogies at more than 130 km/hour from arachi to hyber and back. !ince the "T /"# port handles thousands of containers a day mostly going upcountry, they ha$e to be mo$ed up north for which 10 trains of a few hundred cargo bogies are re%uired on a daily basis. &lmost 10 trains from hyber to arachi carrying e'portable goods back to the port daily may e$en ha$e to cater to freight needs of other northern landlocked neighbour countries. (n fact, with some minor modification trains can carry complete trucks with their containers on them, and when they reach the nearest station, they can dri$e off them using a ramp, making freight trains and truck combination e$en more efficient. This could become the best solution. The cost of cargo in train, as a general rule, is about one)fifth of the cost by truck, whose costs are one truck engine, two dri$ers and one container. !o for a few hundred containers, a few hundred dri$ers are re%uired for day and night, and a few hundred truck engines. (n a train, howe$er, there are four to fi$e dri$ers while the si*e of one big engine is about eight to 10 truck engines, pulling a few hundred cargo containers at one time. (f a truck charges +s100,000 for a container as fare for a trip to hyber from arachi, it will be able to do the same fare in +s,0,000 for a container and that also profitably for railways, if done efficiently. &lso, to add $alue to the railway income, the railways department should build large cold stores, milk chillers, fruit and $egetable wash plants, big warehouses and grain depots ne't to all ma-or stations, especially near rural rail stations, to store perishable goods.

This e'tra money can be put to good use to better pay all its railway employees and, secondly, to upgrade all its systems. The +ailways. land should be con$erted to do what the /ahria foundation is doing0 in /ahria 1, ,, and 3, arachi, where high %uality office space has been built and rented to corporate customers. & solid +ailways foundation should be built for the welfare of all retired railways employees, so that the employees of the +ailways department work hard and sincerely to look forward to a stable retirement. ( would urge the go$ernment and all rele$ant authorities to take prompt steps to impro$e the railways department.