Chanawan bridge was safe for traffic: Saad Rafique

LAHORE: Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique on Monday asked anchor persons and politicians to avoid comment on the Gujranwala train accident without proper information as it could affect the investigation.
Addressing a press conference at the Pakistan Railways (PR) headquarters, he said a joint investigation team (JIT) comprising three army and four PR officers was probing the incident, which was expected to present its report by Thursday.
The JIT should be allowed to complete the task with freedom as it was executing the job with responsibility, dedication and without any pressure, he added.
He denied the rumours that any preliminary report had been submitted. It was stated by an anchor — also a senator and former law minister — that the IG PR Police did not reach the spot which was wrong as several news channels had shown his presence there, he added.
The Chanawan bridge was safe for traffic and not over aged, he said, adding that it was not among the 159 bridges which were declared repairable.He said the track was also fit for normal traffic and Pakistan Express train had passed from there just one hour and 15 minutes before the accident. No engineering restriction was declared on the track, he added.
Saad said it had been proved that the locomotive of the train got derailed at a 30 degree sharp curve situated at 945 feet from the incident spot as nut bolts and fishplates were found broken over there.
It was being reviewed whether the nut bolts and fishplates were broken due to the derailment or the same were intentionally opened before the arrival of the train, he added.He said the driver had pulled the emergency brakes, which was the right option at that time; however, the train might not have been crashed, if the brakes were not pulled.
He said speeding of the train was also established as the driver had not stopped at a ‘stop dead’ point situated at 26 kilometres from the accident spot. It was being evaluated why the driver did not stop at that point, he added.
Saad told the media that the performance of the locomotive was also under consideration as it was inducted into the railways in 1957 and rehabilitated in 2003 for 15 years.The minister said there were 13,959 bridges in the system out of which 159 had been declared repairable but not dangerous and their repair was being undertaken gradually. The JIT report would find out the reasons of the accident, he added.