July 27, 2005	Wednesday	Jumadi-us-Sani 19, 1426

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LAHORE, July 26: National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways chairman Sardar Tufail Ahmad Khan said on Tuesday the Karachi Express driver alone was not responsible for the fatal accident at Sarhad station.

“It is not fair to put the whole responsibility on a man who is no more and cannot defend himself,” Sardar Tufail told journalists at the Railways Headquarters after presiding over a committee meeting.

“The Sukkur control staff and the Sarhad station master are also responsible for the collision. Cases against all the officials responsible for the crash should be registered and they must be arrested.

“The Quetta Express had been standing on the main line for 25 minutes and the staff concerned did not bother either to turn the signal red or change the track.

“I have directed the Federal Government Inspector of Railways (FGIR) to identify the real causes of the accident in his detailed report and suggest measures to avert recurrence of such tragedies in future,” Sardar Tufail said.

Sources told Dawn that the committee members expressed grave concern over the working and control system of railways and were of the opinion that the whole system required an overhaul.

MNAs Saeed Virk, Sahibzada Mahboob Sultan, Pir Muhammad Shah Khagga, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Anwar Bhutto, Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi, Mrs Nasim Ahmad Chaudhry, Dr Nisar Ahmad, Qazi Hameedullah Khan and Abdus Sattar Afghani, besides all senior officers of the railways, attended the meeting.

Minister of State Ishaq Khan Khakwani, MNAs Devdas, Begum Shahnaz Sheikh, Farooq Azam Malik, Chaudhry Asim Nazir and Syed Gulzar Sibtain Shah could not come because of some pressing engagements, according to sources.

General Manager (Operations) Abdul Wahab Awan briefed the committee on the facts that led to the fatal accident at the Sarhad station. All evidences, he said, suggested that mainly the Karachi Express driver was responsible for the accident as he ignored red signal and crashed the train into Quetta Express.

However, action had been taken against other officials involved directly or indirectly in the accident.

Minister for Railways Mian Shamim Haider said efforts were being made to improve the system. Duty time of drivers was being reduced from eight to six hours while their pay scales were also being revised upward from BS-9 to BS-14.

Besides provision of better facilities, a programme was also being chalked out for holding refresher courses for the staff to improve efficiency.

Railways chairman Shakeel Durrani denied that only lower staff was made scapegoat. Action had been taken against all those found responsible, including Sukkur divisional superintendent, Sarhad station master and Rawalpindi station engineer, he said.

He added that any other official found responsible for the accident would not be spared.

Mr Durrani said the railway was planning to introduce automatic train protection system to avert such accidents in future. “The system ensures safety of rolling stock even if the driver fails to observe red signal as train automatically stops in case the signal is red.

The latest communication system enabling driver to have direct link with the control room, rear and next station would also be introduced in near future,” he said.

The committee will again meet on Wednesday (today) at the PR headquarters and is likely to discuss the reasons for the appointment of junior officers in place of seniors and filling up of posts from outside the railways. The committee members are also likely to visit the Mughalpura workshop.

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