January 02, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 22, 1428

KARACHI, Jan 1: Railway links with the rest of the country were restored on Tuesday after days of disruption owing to the widespread turmoil and damage in the wake of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in Rawalpindi on Dec 27.

Karachi, which is not only the country’s commercial capital but also the major port, had remained cut off for six days.

On Tuesday, four goods trains carrying oil left for up-country while two up-country bound passenger trains, the Karakorum Express and the Khyber Mail, were also scheduled to leave late in the evening. However, no trains coming from up-country have yet reached the city.

Earlier on Monday, under a repair and restoration operation, four trains carrying engineers, mechanical staff and personnel of law-enforcement agencies had left for Dadu, Mirpurkhas, Tando Adam and Kotri to repair the railway track and other related facilities.

Sources told Dawn that the railways’ microwave and other communication systems had been affected by the recent violence and now, station masters, engine drivers and related staff members had been given walkie-talkies. As a result, the operation of trains had resumed.

During the recent violence, at least 65 railway stations, 40 locomotives, 150 passenger coaches, the microwave system, signals and various other installations and infrastructure were damaged. The loss incurred by the railways, an organisation that runs perpetually in losses, is estimated at over Rs12 billion.

Approximately Rs20 million has been paid to passengers who had to cancel their journeys because of the suspension of operations.

No decision on Thar Express

The divisional superintendent of Karachi Railways, Mir Mohammed Kashkeli, told Dawn that after remaining suspended for six days, railway traffic resumed on Tuesday. Confirming that four special trains carrying oil had already left while two passenger trains were expected to leave on schedule, he said that normal railway traffic would resume within the next few days.

According to Mr Kashkeli, no decision had been taken so far regarding the resumption of the India-bound Thar Express, whose operation was suspended last week. “After the traffic on the main line — Karachi and up-country — becomes normal, a decision will also be taken regarding the restoration of the services of the Thar Express,” he stated.

Conceding that the recent turmoil had affected railway infrastructure such as stations, signals, the communications network and trains, he maintained that the tracks and bridges had not suffered serious damage. “These remained protected mainly because of the timely intervention of personnel of the law-enforcement agencies,” he told Dawn.

Meanwhile, however, the chief of the Pakistan Railways Workers’ Federation, Manzoor Razi, criticised the delayed intervention of the law-enforcement agencies during the recent crisis. “If the army and Rangers had moved in on Dec 27, when the turmoil started, major losses to railways’ installation could have been avoided,” he said.

Mr Razi pointed out that railway traffic had resumed on Tuesday due to the hard work put in by the maintenance and engineering staff that had only been deputed on Monday. “The staff members who restored the track in such a short time ought to be given an award,” he suggested.