Pakistan Railways to buy 16 new power plants for trains

 Abbasi said the department's power vans had gone without an overhaul for the past 20 years, and that bids for the 16 new power plants were being opened this week. He said all existing power vans across the fleet would be overhauled by March 23 next year.

Separately, officials said tenders for the 16 power plants had already been floated using railway-generated revenue, with 80 additional power plants expected to join the fleet by the same March deadline. The minister said data collection for the extra power units was still underway.

The procurement comes as Pakistan Railways reports its strongest financial performance in decades. Abbasi said the department touched a revenue target of Rs115 billion by the end of the fiscal year, which he described as the first profit in the institution's 78-year history.

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The minister attributed the turnaround to improved governance, better use of rolling stock, and reforms across freight and passenger operations, noting that freight alone brought in a record Rs41 billion. He said outsourcing five passenger trains to private operators had additionally generated Rs3 billion in revenue.

Alongside the power plant purchase, Abbasi said Rohri Junction would be rebuilt on modern lines and that new guard rooms were planned for several major stations. He added that railway hospitals would be outsourced under a public-private partnership to expand medical coverage for employees and their families.