Revitalising Pakistan's railways - using the British model?

[John Ashworth]

Pakistan's railway network needs revitalising. Is it wise to copy Britain's model?

By Rob Crilly Last updated: February 6th, 2012
Telegraph

It was an impressive start for Pakistan's new luxury train, running between its two biggest cities, Lahore and Karachi. I was one of the first lucky passengers to use the service. After dinner of chicken karahi and a comfortable air-conditioned night's sleep, the red, white and blue liveried carriages pulled into Karachi Cantt station 19 minutes ahead of schedule. Rose petals were scattered under our feet as we stepped into the hot sunshine. So far so good in the effort to revive Pakistan Railways, a British-built network that is now losing millions of pounds each year.

Of course, the service still has a lot to prove. My sceptical Pakistani friends wondered whether its toilets would be quite so fragrant after a year back and forth along the 800-mile journey.

But a lot hinges on its success. The country is filled with bloated, inefficient publicly-owned industries. Pakistan International Airlines is a financial black hole, with a chunk of its fleet grounded, despite having a virtual monopoly over lucrative direct routes to the UK. Electricity suppliers are unable to maintain power to householders through the winter – let alone the long summer when air conditioning units send supply rocketing.

So Pakistan Railways decision to link up with a private partner to run the luxury train could be a marker for the future. It already has plans to start a second public-private service, and is also in talks with 11 companies to open access to its railway lines for freight services. If all of this sounds a little familiar, that's because it is: the UK is the model. No doubt British commuters, reading news today that their trains are the worst in Europe, would raise an eyebrow. But as Arif Azim, chairman of Pakistan Railways, who grew up in the UK, told me: "Whatever the problems, it's still a great service."

While the symmetry is neat – a colonial-era railway looking to Britain for answers to its modern-day problems – I just hope Pakistan Railways never sees the need to replace its karahi, nan and raita with curling sandwiches and cold tea. And I have never once been showered with rose petals at Charing Cross.