Pakistan Railways declares emergency till Dec 31 after repeated accidents

Pakistan Railways has declared an emergency until December 31 following a series of repeated accidents and derailments. Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi warned that no member of the operations department, including himself, would be granted holidays during this period. All public holidays for officers have been cancelled, and they are required to address operational deficiencies to ensure safe passenger journeys and freight transportation.

The emergency was declared following a recent incident near Multan that resulted in the death and injury of several passengers. The analysis of 1,546 coaches and wagons has been completed, while the inspection of the remaining 3,000 is expected to be finished by November 10. Abbasi has directed officers to remove any faulty or brakeless rolling stock from service by December 31.

Railway officers are now mandated to travel by rail for all official tours, with no air travel allowed or reimbursed. All dummy coaches and goods wagons will also be removed from service by the end of the emergency period. The minister emphasized that parts for coaches, wagons, and locomotives, including 36,000 brake cylinders, have started arriving and that officers have been tasked with addressing an accumulated maintenance backlog dating back ten years.

The main causes of derailments and accidents, as identified by health analysis, include deteriorating tracks, the use of faulty rolling stock, manual point systems, human error, insufficient maintenance, and a lack of resources. The railway minister himself will travel by train from Rawalpindi to Lahore until December 31, setting an example for other officers to follow.