THIS refers to your editorial ‘Rail tragedy’ (July 5) in which you have asserted that the accident involving Sikh pilgrims would not have occurred if the railway had cared to keep a guard on the unmanned level crossing.

Now, by its very definition, an unmanned level crossing is one where the railway is not expected to keep vigil. The railway is responsible when a manned level crossing is left unattended and is not closed as soon as a train leaves the nearest railway station and heads towards the manned railway crossing.

In this particular case, the driver of the coach was clearly guilty of negligence. Your paper in its report itself indicated that the coach reached a manned level crossing and found it closed because of an approaching train. Instead of waiting for the train to pass and for the gate to open, he turned back and headed to the nearby unmanned crossing and tried to cross the track from there.

I regret you blaming the railway administration for the accident. In my view, the driver of the coach was 100 per cent responsible for the accident.

Justice (r) Salahuddin Mirza

Karachi

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ONE is in a fix to decide which mode of travel is safe in Pakistan. Pakistan Railways has a terrible record of accidents, killing hundreds of people every now and then. This trend is likely to continue in view of its deplorable performance over the years.

The history of road accidents makes bus travel also a risky mode of transportation. As if the above was not enough, air travel has become unsafe and frightening, too, considering the rising number of air crashes and the news that hundreds of PIA pilots hold dubious licences and fake degrees.

Besides, doubts are cast on the genuineness and capabilities of the PIA engineering staff.

In this scenario, one is left with no choice but to abandon travelling altogether and stay home. God help us!

A citizen

Lahore

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2020