Railways land not be leased out: Mahtab
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Railways, Sardar Mahtab Abbasi has said that railways lands will not be leased out while selling of lands is not an option and would be offered as equity in different ventures.
He expressed these views while talking to a delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI) who called on the minister here.
“We are striving our best to make railways a profitable organization, in order to fulfill this dream we are in the process of consolidation of all available assets of railways”, the Minister remarked.
He said that decision making process has to be streamlined for saving precious resources. He asked the members of ICCI to come forward with positive and workable suggestions for the betterment and bringing improvement of railways.
“We will welcome your suggestions and those considered fit will be utilized and exercised by the Railways”, the minister said. Sardar Mahtab thanked the trade and business community of Islamabad for extending cooperation to the newly elected government.
The minister further said that the party leadership has joined coalition government for the betterment of the people. He maintained that former regime has left the country in a state of disarray.
“We will work hard with complete devotion to overcome the misdoings of the past government”, he remarked. He said that economic condition of the country can be seen from the lifestyle of the common man.
Sardar Mahtab said, “We all know that government faces a great challenge, the standard of living of the people has gone down badly in the past eight years”. He said that trade gap has increased dramatically. The delegation assured the minister of their full cooperation.
The delegation also presented a number of suggestions to the minister regarding improvement specially the freight operation of the railways. Mian Akram Fareed of ICCI said that railways can utilize around 50 to 60 thousands tonnes cargo per month.
The minister said that railways is the largest means of transportation of the country. He said that presently railways is carrying only 4 percent of the freight of the country as no new technology has been introduced in the railways for a long time.
Sardar Mahtab said that 85 percent track is over age and passengers are hauled as public sector obligation and not for earning profits.The minister said all out efforts will be made for improvement of freight functions of the railways.