NAROWAL, Feb 8: The closure of Narowal-Chak Amro section has caused a loss of billions of rupees to Pakistan Railway besides depriving people of the transport facility. The 55-kilometre railway section, which was closed seven years ago, connected the residents of Shakargarh tehsil to other parts of the country.

The section was constructed before the Partition in 1947. It was linked to India from Jassar junction railway station, but rail traffic to India was stopped soon after the Partition. The section had great strategic importance because it provided effective facilities to the armed forces for logistic supplies during wars with India. There were seven railway stations on the section: Jassar, Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Bastan Afghanan, Noorkot, Shakargarh, Maryal and Chak Amro. The section was ignored by railway authorities and in consequence the railway track deteriorated because of a lack of maintenance.

Later, the track became unusable and derailments became quite common. The railway authorities, instead of repairing the track, curtailed the number of trains running on it. About 10 years ago seven trains used to run from Narowal to Chak Amro and Chak Amro to Narowal every day, giving the railway a handsome income.

In 1998, railway authorities cut the number of trains from seven to one only. In the beginning of year 2000, the sole train running on the track derailed seven times in a month. As a result, railway authorities decided to stop daily traffic on the track and introduced a weekly shuttle train to keep the track alive.

The shuttle train used to go from Narowal to Chak Amro and Chak Amro to Narowal once a week at the speed of only 15 kilometres an hour. At the end of year 2000, railway authorities stopped this shuttle train too and the track was abandoned totally. In the following years, the railway removed its staff from the section, completely deserting the track and other official property.

Thieves took away unprotected railway property on the section. Now, parts of the track and doors and windows of railway stations and staff residences have been stolen. Even bricks have been stolen from almost all railway buildings, which have no become safe places for thieves and other kinds of criminals. The open land owned by the railway on the section has been occupied by encroachers. Locals use the railway track to hook their cattle.

Retired station masters Manzoor Ahmed and Saeed Ahmed told Dawn the Narowal-Chak Amro section was a profitable one, but floods and rains damaged it. They said the railway could earn a handsome profit by restoring traffic on the section.

Rights activist Khalid Mahmood says the negligence of the railway authorities has deprived thousands of passengers of the transport facility and forced them to travel by overloaded and rashly driven buses and vans. He said public transport owners were exploiting the situation.