Pakistan Railway: E-Cargo Service

Meher Azeem Hakro
Pakistan Railways provides an important mode of transportation throughout Pakistan. It plays an important role in bringing the remote corners of the country closer for the purpose of business, trade, commerce and many other important services. In the past, the railways' cargo department performed brilliantly but due to mismanagement and overstaffing, its performance was compromised.
The business community suffered with heavy financial losses due to poor handling of goods by Pakistan Railways officials. When the supply of goods to the business community began to be delayed, this community started to prefer to book their goods through private freight transport, on which the railways continued to lose billions. The CPEC is a mega project for the construction of new locomotives, development and improvement of existing Railway infrastructure, an increase in average train speeds, and improvement in time efficiency and expansion of passenger services. The first phase of the project has completed in 2017, and the second phase is expected to be completed by 2021. The Freight Business Unit of Pakistan Railways operates over 200 freight stations, including the Port of Karachi and
Bin Qasim Port, and several dry ports in Pakistan's four provinces. With 12,000 employees, the unit generates revenue from the movement of agricultural, industrial and imported products such as petroleum oil and lubricants, wheat, coal, fertilizer, rock phosphate, cement and sugar from the ports to the interior. The government has built new national highways with the addition of motorways, which has improved trade and logistics within the country. But one of the disadvantages is that transport pollution is on the rise. If railway cargo is improved according to modern requirements, it can earn billions of rupees along with a good impact on the environment. PR needs to use technology with
intelligent systems to gain the trust of the business community and increase safety, reliability and efficiency. Today’s businessmen expect a high level of service. They want to know, in real-time, where their luggage is, when it will arrive and what its condition is. That is why the railways will have to prepare their entire cargo with digital technology so that business people can prefer to send their goods through railways. Pakistan Railways has recently introduced an excellent cellular app for live tracking of
trains which allows people to passenger trains in real-time. Passengers can also get information about the expected time and arrival of any train. The app is currently available on the Play Store. This app is free to install and use. The app is great, yet it is in its infancy and more work is being needed to improve it. This app is not fully functional but it is a good move of Pakistan Railways. Similarly, Pakistan Railways need to launch a tracking system for cargo through which businessmen can get information about their
goods. The tracking and monitoring solutions can allow businessmen and operators to stay in touch with their train and ensure asset visibility at every stage between the point of origin and final destination.Internet and software advances allow customers access to booking and tracking systems 24/7. ot only does this enhance the user experience, but it saves time andmoney for the company as well. The Pakistan Railways should also use GPS mathematicians systems. The on-board GPS system will track the wagons and enable thecargo to predict the expected time of their arrival, while the sensors will
provide numerous data, whether the railway wagons are full or empty, up to indoor temperature and humidity level. Tele matics applications are a functional subsystem of the railways'system used in European countries. This system provides information (real-time monitoring of freight and trains) before and during the journey, freight services, payment systems, luggage management and management of connections between trains andthe customers. Moreover, this system can help to monitor carriage
movements,temperature and impact forces on the wagon. In a dangerous situation, an
automated message with alert can generate. Importantly, installing telematics can also reduce train accidents.The present government has allowed the private sector and TCP to import 1.5million tons of wheat and 0.3 million tons of sugar. The wheat will be docked at the seaport in a few days; such a large quantity of wheat has to be delivered to every corner of the country. If this wheat is embarked by cargo train, on the one hand, the railway swill get a benefit of millions of rupees and on the other hand,
the wheat will easily reach every corner of the country. Third, the congestion at the seaport and highways will be reduced. Besides, wheat will be delivered on time in every city. Moreover, private transport pollution will not increase.Pakistan Railways should look towards new technologies such as blockchain andreal time tracking methods such as GPS, Telematics and Satellite tracking, IoT (Internetof Things) incorporating Smart Container technology, tracking apps, and other digital solutions.