ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: As many as 233 persons were killed and 509 injured in 486 train accidents that took place from January 2002 to July 2005, says Federal Minister for Railways Mian Shamim Haider.

In a written reply to a question of Mehnaz Rafi, the minister told the National Assembly on Friday that the Pakistan Railways had to suffer a loss of Rs86.531 million in these accidents.

Giving details, the minister said most of the accidents, 144 in number, took place due to “negligent driving on the part of road users” at various manned and unmanned level crossings followed by 134 accidents due to defects in railway tracks.

The minister further said mechanical defects caused 82 accidents while the element of human failure was behind 52 such incidents. He said fault in signals caused 10 accidents. He said the reasons behind 57 accidents were not known as these cases were still under investigation.

The minister also informed the lower house that the Pakistan Railways had paid Rs29.72 million as compensation to deceased and the injured persons.

In reply to a question that what steps the government had taken to control such accidents in future, Mr Haider said the Pakistan Railways was implementing a comprehensive “Track Rehabilitation Programme” to improve the safety and speed of trains on main line. He said the entire railways’ main line network was initially being equipped with “Automatic Train Protection System” as a part of the replacement of manual signalling system of train control. “This system automatically stops a train, if the driver fails to stop it at a signal,” he added.

Mr Haider said old and outdated stock was being replaced and 150 new design passenger coaches and 1,000 high capacity bogie wagons were being procured. He said the government was planning to introduce diploma in railway engineering to enhance qualification of operational staff. Similarly, he said, enhanced pay scales and special duty allowance for train operating staff were the other steps taken by the government.

Moreover, he said, the condition of running rooms for the operating staff had been improved to ensure proper rest to maintain their performance and air-conditioned cubicles were being arranged for drivers. He said guards and operational staff at major stations had been equipped with walkie-talkie sets for communication purposes. He also said that pilot locomotives were being run ahead of mail and express trains. He said metal detectors had been provided to the Railways Police and Civil Defence staff for checking sabotage activities.

Fully equipped modern help centres have been established at major railway stations to cope with any emergency, he said.

In reply to a question of PPP MNA Fauzia Wahab, the minister said there was a plan to install close circuit TV (CCTV) cameras at Karachi, Rohri and Lahore railway stations at a cost of Rs7.544 million.