BAHAWALPUR: The Pakistan Railways (PR) has “deferred for an indefinite period” the plan to revive over a century-old Sammasatta-Bahawalnagar railway track to resume the operations of a passenger train on it, allegedly because of financial constraints.

Dawn learnt on Thursday that the PR authorities concerned decided to postpone the restoration of the track indefinitely after the official assessment declared that the plan was not economically viable for the cash-strapped railways.

However, while making the decision, the authorities ignored the transportation needs of the local population that had no decent means to commute between Samma Satta and Bahawalnagar, the sources said.

They said the tracks revival would have benefited thousands of locals living along the route, including students, traders and patients.

They added that the track, if revived, could have also been linked with Lahore via Wasewala railway station.

Presently, the residents of the small towns and villages along the abandoned railway track were facing a lot of difficulties while traveling to various destinations because of lack of good transport facilities.

The sources claimed that a shuttle train service between the two stations would also have brought financial benefits for railway, if run efficiently.

The railways had suspended the operations on the section some 12 years back because of the poor condition of the track and mainly after finding it was not commercially viable.

They said the PR could have enhanced its income by launching a fast train from Sammasatta to Lahore via Bahawalnagar and Wasewala on the revived track, which was called “via Bhathindha” before the Partition.

Prior to the Partition, Bhathindha used to be an important railway junction from where train service via Bahawalnagar and Sammasatta was available for Karachi.

Divisional commercial officer’s PRO Ms.Nabila of Multan Railway Division told Dawn on mobile phone that the PR authorities were still in the process of examining the financial viability of reviving operations on the section after restoration of the track.

She added that the authorities would have have to assess the income expected to be generated from the section after necessary repairs of the track.

The PR had started the track’s repairs in November 2018, setting Dec 15 deadline for completion of the work that was later extended to January 2019. However, the work was stopped soon after.

However, according to the sources, the plan had been postponed indefinitely.

The decision by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government has disappointed the people of the area who had been awaiting revival of train operations since long.

The revival of the section would also have made Sammasatta railway station functional again, that used to be an important junction on Lahore-Karachi route.

Presently, no express train stops at the Sammasatta railway junction, depriving the population of the area of an affordable mode of transportation.

Sources said that because of persisting neglect by authorities concerned, over a century old infrastructure of the Sammasatta Railway Station was being badly damaged. They said the furniture and fixtures of the railway station, the residential quarters and rest house were being stolen by drug addicts and thieves.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2019