KARACHI, April 21: At least 33 per cent of the trains connecting the biggest metropolis with the rest of the country have not yet been restarted despite a lapse of over four months, it has been learnt here reliably. Sources said that owing to the non-resumption of these trains not only between 10,000 and 15,000 people were suffering but the railways was also losing between Rs1.5 million and Rs2 million on a daily basis.

The railway network had been ransacked during the countrywide disturbances that followed the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi on Dec 27 last year.

Though the entire railways network had been affected, it was severely damaged in Sindh where numerous stations and trains, including engines and coaches, had been set on fire and damaged, which crippled the communications system for many days. It is yet to be repaired fully which is affecting train operations.

Before the disturbances, 27 trains used to come and leave the city for different cities of Punjab, the NWFP and Balochistan.

However after repair works were carried out and operations limped back to normality, 18 trains had been restored, while operations of nine trains – five of which were started by the previous government – have not yet resumed.

The names of the trains operations of which have not yet been resumed are: Mehran Express (it connected the city with Mirpurkhas), Shah Rukun-i-Alam Express (Multan), Balochistan Express (Quetta) and Faisalabad Express (Punjab). All these trains had operated for many years before their service was suspended.

The five trains that were started by the previous government are: Sindh Express (Lahore), Jinnah Express (Rawalpindi), Sir Syed Express (Rawalpindi), Nishtar Express (Peshawar) and Bhambhore Express (Rawaipindi).

The sources said that each train usually transported between 1,000 and 1,500 passengers and non-resumption of these nine trains had affected between 10,000 and 15,000 passengers a day, who now had to opt for less safe road transport or more expensive air travel.

They also criticized the railway authorities for their failure to fully restore the signalling system damaged during the disturbance in the province in the past over four months owing to which the travel time between Rohri and Karachi – a distance of about 500 kilometres – that usually took six to seven hours is now taking between 12 and 16 hours. This long travel time is discouraging the short distance passengers from travelling in trains, and they instead use the road transport.

Responding to Dawn queries, Pakistan Railways Workers Federation chief Manzoor Razi alleged that the top railway bureaucracy was intentionally using delaying tactics in the repairs of the signalling system and the resumption of the trains so that the passengers shifted to the road transport and the railways suffered financially.

He demanded that the signalling system be repaired immediately so that the original travel time -- of six to seven hours -- between Karachi and Rohri could be restored. He also demanded that all the closed down trains be restarted so that the revenue of between Rs1.5 million and Rs2 million that the organization was losing daily could be regenerated and the financial health of the organization improved.

He also urged the newly inducted minister to foil the conspiracy of the railway bureaucracy that wanted to destroy the organization, and get input from different stakeholders including workers so that he could get a clear and correct picture of the organization.

Responding to Dawn queries, Railways’ divisional superintendent for Karachi, Mir Mohammad Khaskheli, said that repairs of the signalling system might take some time as many spare parts and components of the sophisticated equipment had to be imported. And once the system was repaired, the travel time between Karachi and Rohri would return to the normal six to seven hours.

Regarding the nine closed trains, first he did not accept that trains had been shut and wanted to know the names and when the names of all the nine trains were given, he said operations of trains were controlled by the railways headquarters in Lahore.