KARACHI / HYDERABAD, Aug 1: Pakistan Railways is suffering a daily loss of millions of rupees as the operation of freight trains from Karachi to upcountry continues to remain suspended following the damage caused by rain to Ranpathani Bridge in the Thatta district on Sunday.
The Pakistan Railways has been operating a passenger train service from Hyderabad, but it has been unable to operate freight trains.
The railway link of Karachi from the rest of the country was broken after the heavy rain swept away a portion of the bridge.
Officials in the railways department said the repair work on the bridge had been started and it would be made operative by Aug 4. On Monday, it was announced that the work would be completed in 48 hours.
Sources said a federal government inspector following a routine inspection of the bridge four months back had reported that it needed immediate repair, but the authorities allegedly turned a deaf ear to the report.
Many intending passengers could not get refund of their ticket money yet, though the PR officials here said that Rs4 million had been refunded.
The passengers complained that the refund counter remained open for only two hours — from noon to 2pm.
“When I reached the counter there was already a long queue. I waited for my turn but the counter was closed and officials said the remaining people should come tomorrow,” said Shafquat, a resident of North Karachi.
HYDERABAD: Passengers for various upcountry destinations continued to face problems at the Hyderabad station on the third consecutive day on Tuesday.
The delay in train caused great inconvenience to passengers, especially those coming from Karachi to board trains. The families having women and children were the worst sufferers as the station lacked necessary facilities.
Several passengers reached here on their own from Karachi but many missed the Karakoram Express that left the Hyderabad station. Those passengers were returning back to Karachi to get refunds because officials at the Hyderabad station said they were not ‘competent’ to make refunds. “We arrived here at 4pm to board Karakoram Express but the train had already left,” said Ali Ahsan, who stood outside the station with seven members of his family.
