RAWALPINDI: Passengers were stranded at the Rawalpindi Railway Station late Saturday night and Sunday morning due to a railway drivers strike.

Train service resumed after two hours, when the Railways administration brought it alternate drivers to start the service. The Railways workers union claimed learner drivers were hired to run the train service.

The driver of a train from Rawalpindi to Lahore scheduled to leave Rawalpindi at 12:30am refused to drive the train after a strike was called by the Pakistan Railways Workers Union loco running wing, leading Railways to cancel the train. Trains ran behind schedule until 12pm on Sunday.

Five train drivers, union office-bearer arrested, trains behind schedule until noon on Sunday

Railways police arrested six drivers, Mohammad Yaqoob, Anjum Ali, Mohammad Yasin, Raja Bashir and Mohammad Fayyaz, and union loco running wing president Raja Hafeez.

Five deputy drivers, Anjum Sagheer, Waqar Hussain, Khyzir Hayat, Raja Hafeez Ahmad and Fiaz Ahmad, have also been booked by Railways police under section seven of the Anti-Terrorism Act and sections of the Railways Act.

The union’s division president Raja Jamil told Dawn that after the drivers refused to run the trains, the Railways administration immediately called in learner drivers who had not completed their training.

He said former drivers were also contacted, who refused, as the drivers had informed the administration of the strike two days ago. However, he said, the administration took notice of the strike lightly and was forced to call in the learner drivers to run the trains after the train from Rawalpindi to Lahore was cancelled.

He said workers have been demanding improvements to the service structure.

“Drivers do not get any running allowance, and they join and retire from the service at the same scale without any promotions. The demands were presented to Federal Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, but he failed to improve the service structure,” Mr Jamil said.

Divisional Commercial Officer Ali Raza, however, said the administration brought in permanent drivers to run the trains and called the workers union’s allegations baseless. He said it was not possible to bring in learners, adding that Pakistan Railways was working to provide safe and secure travel facilities to the people and managed to bring in professional railway workers in this regard.

“Pakistan Railways [refunded] more than 327 passengers after the cancellation of the train, and they went to their destinations using other modes of travel. However, alternate bogies were attached to bring mostly most people after the cancellation of the Lahore-bound train,” he said.

Mr Raza added: “All the trains are on time, and the minister and senior Railways officials were supervising train operations across the country.”

Meanwhile, the strike did cause problems for passengers and relatives who had come to see them off.

Subak Raftar (UP) from Lahore to Rawalpindi, Khyber mail and the Hazara Express were behind schedule, which Subak Raftar arriving in Rawalpindi in five hours and Hazara Express taking

On the other hand, the strike caused problems for the passengers and their relatives who came to see off them.

Subak Raftar (UP) from Lahore to Rawalpindi, Khyber mail, Hazara Express were behind the schedule. Subak Raftar arrived in Rawalpindi five hours late, while and the Hazara Express train from Karachi to Rawalpindi arrived four hours late.

Passengers expressed resentment regarding the situation and called on the government to improve Railways operations. They also said the fans were out of order.

They said the Railways authorities had failed to manage trains effectively, and were creating problems for people who opted for this mode of travel.

Saleem Ahmed, a passenger, said his train left Lahore three hours late, and stopped near Lala Musa and at Sohawa for an hour each. He said his children had fallen ill because of the hot weather, and said he would not be taking a train back to Lahore, opting for a bus instead.

Khalid Ahmed said his family was worried about him, since he left Lahore in the morning and did not reach Rawalpindi until evening. He added that some passengers had stopped in Gujranwala and chosen to travel the rest of the way by bus.

Before the trains arrived, passengers’ relatives at the station were shuttling between the information desk and the station master’s office, but no one was available to inform them of the situation.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2017