Ministry of Railways (Pakistan)
Federal Ministries of the Government of Pakistan
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | May 1974 |
| Type | Railway Transportation Ministry |
| Jurisdiction | Federal Government of Pakistan |
| Headquarters | Ministry of Railways Block D Pakistan Secretariat Islamabad |
| Minister responsible |
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| Agency executives |
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| Website | www |
The Ministry of Railways (Urdu: وزارت ريلوے; reporting name: MoR) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Government of Pakistan. The ministry initially functioned as a subdivision of the Ministry of Communications and was eventually established as an autonomous ministry of the federal government in May 1974. The primary purpose of the ministry is to manage the state-owned rail company, Pakistan Railways. The ministry is also responsible for the planning, administration and establishment of passenger locomotive services throughout Pakistan while overseeing government policies on regulation and development of the national rail network. There are several industries and organisations that fall under the purview of the ministry which may or may not be entirely associated with the Pakistan Railways.
The ministry has its headquarters at the Pakistan Secretariat in Islamabad, where it's governed by the Federal Minister for Railways, who is required to be a member of parliament – an office currently occupied by Khawaja Saad Rafique as of June 2013. The federal minister is also accompanied by the Parliamentary Secretary for Railways, a bureaucratic officer tasked with managing the ministry's day-to-day operations – an office currently occupied by Parveen Agha as of January 2014. The parliamentary secretary is almost always the chairperson for Pakistan Railways.
In 1858, several railway companies began laying track and operating in what is today Pakistan. The present Pakistan Railways network was originally built as a patchwork of local rail links operated by small private railway companies. These included the Scinde Railway, Punjab Railway, Delhi Railway and Indus Steam Flotilla companies. In 1870, these 4 companies were amalgamated into the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway company. Shortly thereafter, several other railways lines were built including the Indus Valley State Railway, Punjab Northern State Railway, Sind–Sagar Railway, Sind–Pishin State Railway, Trans–Baluchistan Railway and Kandahar State Railway. These 6 companies along with the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway company merged to form the North Western State Railway in 1880 and would continue as a company until 1947.
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