LAHORE: Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique says a probe has been launched into the accident involving a car and train at an unmanned railway crossing at Gojra.

All the six people in the car were killed in the incident on Sunday.

“Preliminary reports suggest the car driver was in a hurry,” the minister told a hurriedly-called news conference at the railway headquarters here.

Of 3,987 level crossings across the country, about 2,470 are unmanned, said the minister while adding that no plan had ever been made to man these level crossings.

The present government conducted a survey of all these level crossings with the assistance of provincial and district governments. A one-time investment of Rs25bn was required to man all these level crossings while at least Rs2.5bn would be needed per annum for their maintenance and repair besides wages of the staff deputed there, Mr Rafique said.

“Converting the unmanned level crossing into manned ones is the responsibility of provincial or district governments. We are in contact with the provincial governments in this regard. About 75 unmanned level crossings have been converted into manned ones with Rs610m funds given by the Punjab government which would also issue another Rs637m for the purpose.”

Saad Rafique said that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had recently released Rs105m for manning the level crossings and tenders were being issued to begin work on 17 unmanned level crossings in Sindh.

“However, the governments of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have yet to make any payment in this regard,” he said.

During the last three and a half years, 80 unmanned level crossings had manned while the work was under way to convert more than 100 others into manned ones, he added.

To a question, the minister said 80 people had been killed in accidents at unmanned level crossings during the last three years.

“There has been 24pc increase in rail traffic compared to past,” was the response of the minister when asked as to why there has been a surge in train accidents on the level crossings.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2017