Islamabad Railway Station vulnerable to security threats

Islamabad
The Islamabad Railway Station is vulnerable to security threats due to lack of safety measures that could lead to an untoward incident anytime and needs attention of the concerned authorities to address the issue at the earliest to avert any tragedy.
There are no metal or explosive detectors and walkthrough gates installed on the premises of the railway station, whereas policemen have not been deployed at the railway station. It also lacks proper security barriers.
In fact, the law enforcement agencies have already warned the senior official of the Pakistan Railways deployed at the station to take security measures to avert threats. However, no action has been taken so far to ensure safety of passengers, station staffers and the government infrastructure.
Through an internal memo, dated June 2, 2015, the station master informed the high-ups of Pakistan Railways that the station was vulnerable to security threats due to lack of safety measures. In his memo, the station master adopted that no policemen are deployed at the station to check passengers and their luggage at the time of boarding the trains.
In the letter, he also pointed out that some university students use drugs at the station as nobody was there to check them. He requested the high-ups to deploy railway police personnel to stop this menace.
Two trains, Karachi-bound Greenline and Lahore-bound Islamabad Expressway are run from the station on daily basis. Hundreds of passengers board these trains on daily basis, but their safety is at stake due to lack of security measures.
Talking to this scribe, station master Zareer Mahmood said that even there are no barriers at the station to work as a deterrence for terrorists. He said that recently the SHO of I-9 Police Station, Islamabad, visited him and informed him about the security threats for which police had some information. He said police asked him to take all possible security measures to prevent any security threat.
According to Zareer Mahmood, the Islamabad Railway Station was facing many problems, including lack of staff, which needs to be addressed as early as possible. Currently, he said, there is just one reservation clerk, one point man and a station master. According to him, four point men, one more reservation clerk and another station master is required at the station to run the affairs smoothly.
Generally, all the railways stations of Pakistan have ‘qulis’ (porters) but interestingly this station is functioning without any ‘quli’. According to Zareer Mahmood, so far no contract for ‘qulis’ has been awarded to any contractor.