Operation to recover railway land in Mardan next week

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Railways Divisional Superintendent Waqar Ahmad Shahid on Wednesday said that an operation would be carried out next week to recover grabbed land and remove encroachments from railways property in the Mardan district.

He said that similar action was being carried out in the Peshawar district where several illegal billboards were removed from the railways properties.

“The change of government did not affect our routine activities,” he added.

About starting any new train service from Peshawar to other cities or provinces, Waqar Ahmad said that the Peshawar division had proposed to the higher authorities to start a train service from Peshawar to Lahore but it was not accepted.

He said they were told the present train services were functioning well and there was no need to start any new railcar service at this stage.

About the Khushal Express derailment incident, he said that an investigation would be carried out to ascertain the real cause of the accident.

Around 15 passengers sustained injuries when eight railcars of the Peshawar-bound Khushal Express derailed between Sohan Bridge and Makhad Station near Attock district a few days ago.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had inaugurated the Rawalpindi-Mianwali service, the hometown of the premier in northwest Punjab province, on the Peshawar-Rawalpindi railway track.

A railway official told this scribe on condition of anonymity that the Mianwali railcar service was launched against the advice of the railways’ authorities.

He said the track was too old to sustain the burden of extra traffic but the service was launched in haste, which led to the accident.

“A cargo train had derailed on the same track before but it was ignored and the incident was downplayed, which led to Khushal Express tragedy,” he added.

Another official said that besides injuries to passengers, the incident caused millions of rupees loss to the railways, which is already in financial crisis.

“The price of a rail engine varies between Rs400 million to Rs500 million. The price of a railcar is up to Rs300 million as high quality iron is used in the manufacturing of the engine and railcar. The engine and eight railcars were severely damaged in the recent incident and would need millions of rupees for repair,” he elaborated.

An inter-departmental inquiry has already been launched into the incident.

Waqar Ahmad said initially it was reported that the train had crossed the standard speed, which led to the incident. “But it is premature at the moment to establish the cause behind the mishap,” he added.

To a question, he rejected the reports of illegal recruitment in Peshawar division, saying that the fresh induction in railways was made under the temporary labour arrangements and it was not mandatory to advertise such positions.

“It is temporary arrangement and not regular. There is no obligation to advertise these posts,” he added.

He said these were underpaid jobs and priority was given to locals in the fresh recruitment.

About the newly constructed Azakhel dry port in Nowshera, the officer said the railways had provided 60 acres of land for the purpose where the importers, clearing agents and other people concerned would get enhanced facilities.

“It has a vast area for stacking and storing transport goods, proper roads connections, Customs office, banking facility. It would be operational round the clock,” he added.

He rejected the reservations by some traders, customs agents and importers about the security of the newly constructed dry port.

The official also revealed that the railways had planned to recover and cancel leases of land in Azakhel and trees on several acres there.

The railways owned around 72 acres of land in Azakhel, stated another official dealing with the department’s land record.