February 13, 2006	Monday	Muharram 14, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, Feb 12: The two tragic incidents of derailment of trains in January have drastically cut the number of passengers travelling from Rawalpindi, sources in the railway reservation office told Dawn.

The sources said massive reduction had been witnessed in advance booking, especially for the Lahore-bound trains. They claimed 30 per cent reduction in the sale of tickets which, they said, could be gauged from the thin presence of passengers on the platform.

The trains coming from Peshawar and Multan, they said, were plying with most of seats vacant. Though these trains make a brief stop at Rawalpindi, only a few passengers board.

However, the sources said, another reason for a cutback in the sale of tickets was the month of Muharram.

“It is our past experience that the month of Muharram brings reduction in the number of passengers,” they added.

“Most of the passengers in Rawalpindi, who earlier preferred to travel by train, now commute by bus or other means of transport,” said the sources.

A worker, who sells tickets for entering the platform area said that before Jhelum accident, he would sell 300-350 tickets per day but nowadays he could hardly sell 125 tickets.

When a woman employee working at the station was asked which means of transport she would like to travel by, bus, wagon or train, she said: “I would prefer to die near my home than on railway tracks in some remote area.”

A passenger Tahir Mehmood, who had got a ticket for Gujranwala, said life and death was in the hands of the Almighty and no one could avoid the inevitable.

However, the sources said, with the passage of time the number of passengers would increase because travelling by train was the most inexpensive mode of transport.