The National Assembly was informed that nearly 4,000 acres of Pakistan Railway land illegal occupation by government and defence departments. Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi shared this information in a written reply to lawmakers on Monday.
PR owns 168,858 acres of land across Pakistan. Of this, 13,115 acres — 7.7% of its total land — is illegally occupied. Out of this, 3,999 acres are held by government and defence departments. The largest share of encroached land, 4,773 acres, is used for agriculture, followed by residential use (3,266 acres) and commercial use (712 acres).
Punjab has the highest encroached area, with 5,717 acres, followed by Sindh with 5,590 acres. Balochistan has 1,033 acres under illegal occupation, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 775 acres.
In the last five years, PR has retrieved 2,552 acres from private illegal occupants.g This includes 1,078 acres in Punjab, 837 acres in Sindh, 419 acres in Balochistan, and 218 acres in KP. However, none of the illegally occupied land held by government or defence departments has been recovered.
The minister said unauthorized government use of railway land is being regularized through leases under a new land policy. Railway land illegal occupation. Commercial encroachments are being addressed through remedial policies with lease agreements and payments of arrears.
From 2020 to June 2025, PR reported 5,182 encroachment cases, with nearly 100% of offenders from the general public arrested. PR also earned Rs13.9 billion from leasing and licensing land over the last three years.
Despite efforts, government and defence departments continue to occupy thousands of acres without legal permission.
