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Arif Ali / AFP - Getty Images
Pakistan Railway workers repair an engine at a factory in Lahore on Dec. 3, 2011, in a picture made available on Dec. 21.
Farooq Naeem / AFP - Getty Images
Railway workers leave after washing train carriages in Rawalpindi on Dec. 3, 2011.
Corruption, mismanagement and neglect have driven Pakistan Railways to the brink of ruin, Agence France Presse reports, leaving millions of passengers stranded and consigning to the scrapheap a much-loved legacy of British rule.
In the three years since the current government took power the railway has retired more than half of its trains, leaving just 100 to cover a country larger than Britain and Germany combined. The state-owned enterprise is expected to lose 35 billion rupees ($390 million) in the current fiscal year.
On a more positive note for intrepid travelers, The Associated Press reports that Afghanistan opened its first major rail service on Wednesday. A train successfully completed a trial run along a newly-built 47-mile track between Mazar-i-Sharif and the border with Uzbekistan, the first stage in an ambitious plan to open up new trade routes for the landlocked country.
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Pakistan is one of the most corrupted countries on the planet! Do American foreign policy designers really trust the two-faced official of that country? It all boils down to American dollars, and as an American, I protest!
Here recently it was reported that the Pakistani government was in negotiation with the Taliban...this can only spell trouble for the free world, and I wonder where the next explosion of terrorism will occur?? Our foreign diplomats act as if they're blind, or they're being directed by the blind...a bad omen on all accounts!
AH..sort of like amtrak here??
Another example of how the corrupt will steal the wealth of a nation that should have been used to maintain an infrastructure for the common good. Take a good look America this story is going to be about us soon.