Pakistan Railways Needs to get down to Basics: Mian Haroon Masood

Our railways has stood the test of time. Unbelievably it has transported millions of passengers from the lofty mountains in the north to the exuberant plains in the Punjab. This may be true only a little while after the goras had left.The gora sahib very meticulously making use of their skills carved out an extensive train network with tracks spread across the length and breadth of Pakistan.

Unfortunately we have made a ramshackle of our national flagship projects. Very much our national heritage. We have seen a gradual decay and decadence over the years in almost all of our state departments, owing to a contemptible neglect thereby causing an ever alarming perilous predicament that our country is faced with.The hapless poor destined to ride these rickety bogies are ready to meet any dreadful consequence thereof.

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The recent accident at SADIQABAD is a tragic incident leaving a couple of them dead and many injured. Our prayers for the dead and the grieving bereaved. A gut wrenching and a nerve shattering incident happening twice in a row.

The rescue operations by cutting trains and coming to their help by our Pakistan Army hero’s is appreciable. The men of the moment so to speak.Twice the accidents took place in a very short span of time. Certainly the matter needs to be probed into. For far too long we have had such unconvincing political expediencies and the culprit going off the hook in the process.

The tall claims by Sheikh sahib over the improvement of trains or addition of bogies and the insipid inaugural ceremonies held intermittently for new start ups is an exercise in futility. If the very passengers are not guaranteed a safe travel, and we can not even promise an ill fated commuter a safe movement to his required destination it’s all then a step in the wrong direction.

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For heaven’s sake you need to first improve upon the dilapidated health of your rail tracks. The Chinese team must be engaged at the earliest to first revamp all the tracks which seem to have out lived their usefulness or utility. Cosmetics is the most dreaded form of all treatments , because it does not last long. Come out of that election sloganeering and do the right job. Only concentrate on the health of the tracks. Forget about adding on more biggies. Some glaring facts revealed by eye minded people say that railways in the world is a great spectacle of able engineering world over.

The indomitable engineers have laid tracks as far as Peru. Peru as we all know is a place bounded by treacherous mountain range. The enthusiastic travelers may go through the winding tracks at the highest altitude and are required to breath thru oxygen cylinders when needed. These operations have gone on over decades without any untoward accident reported. By comparison we barely have any such harsh terrain with meandering tracks. It’s all in the plains but, our performance has been abysmally low.

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The steepest track is in Madras. You may experience a roller coaster ride, no accidents reported also. The longest which may go up to 500 miles is a linear track which goes from Sydney to Perth. Please, please let’s get down to basics. We badly need to overhaul our systems which fell victim to the protracted disrepair on hands of the concerned many.

The Bilours, the Khawajas, the Rashids, are not an answer to the ailing health of the railways of our dear country. A change in the overall thinking is what is required. The safety of the travelers is of paramount importance. Imran Khan please gird up your loins and get going. We need the right man for the right job. The quest of a right man for the right job is a wild goose chase it seems.

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