HYDERABAD: Railway traffic restored
HYDERABAD, Feb 12: The railway traffic was restored on both up and down tracks on Sunday after more than two days of efforts by railway labourers and officials.
A 210-foot portion of the upcountry track, where two goods trains had collided on Friday, was replaced.
Around 80 feet of the down country track had been replaced on Saturday.
Pakistan Railways deputy superintendent Nasir Hussain Zaidi confirmed that the traffic was restored on both tracks at 3:45pm.
He added that the track had been repaired at 1:30 but it was opened for upcountry trains at 3:45 pm.
The railway staff would start removing the wreckage from the site on Monday night.
INQUIRY: Federal government inspector for railways Imam Din Bhatti is reported to have begun an inquiry into the accident on Sunday.
He inspected the site and gathered information from the traffic inspector and other railway officials.
He also went to Bholari and Meting railway stations and checked the record of timing of trains.
A notification regarding inquiry would be issued on Monday.
Chairman: Pakistan Railways will compensate the parties for their losses incurred during transportation of their goods in Friday’s two trains accident between Meting and Bholari railway stations, 27 kilo meters form Hyderabad after assessment and verification.
Pakistan Railways Chairman Shakeel Durrani ordered an inquiry into one of the major goods trains accidents in the recent past.
Chairman and Federal Secretary Railways Shakeel Durrani told Dawn at the site of accident on Saturday that Federal Government Inspector for Railways (FGIR) Imam Deen Bhatti would conduct inquiry and submit his report soon.
“It was purely a human error while previous two train accidents were related to removal of fish plates near Sama Satta and Jhelum”, he said while responding to a question regarding rise in train accidents in the recent past.
Apparently, he said, it was due to driver’s failure which led to Friday’s accident as he did not heed to the red signal and kept on running the train, finally dashing into stationary oil wagons.