‘4.4m increase in train passengers in past 12 months’

Officials say 72 train accidents occurred in past one year

ISLAMABAD: The number of train passengers has crossed the figure of 50 million with an increase of 4.4 million in the past 12 months, Pakistan Railways officials told a National assembly panel on Friday.

However, there were 74 train accidents in the past one year, they added. The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Railways sought details of the accidents in the next meeting.

The meeting was presided over by the committee’s chairman Moeen Wattoo. Railways officials informed the panel that there were 74 train accidents including 61 incidents of derailment during the past 12 months. Twelve of the accidents were “serious” in nature and four of them occurred because of fire erupting in the dining cart.

Railways suffered Rs29b loss in govt’s first 8 months

The officials informed the committee that 136 passenger trains were running this year. In 2014 -15, 89 railway accidents took place and 76 in 2015-16. In 2016-17, 78 accidents occurred. This number dropped to 67 in 2017-18 and then increased to 74 in 2018-19.

The officials further said 74 inquiries were conducted of which 54 had been completed and 20 were still under way. They added that 13 people had been punished and 34 FIRs were registered.

The committee was also briefed about the funds allocated for Pakistan Railways under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The officials said they had requested an allocation of Rs28 billion for the financial year 2019-20 but only Rs16 billion were approved.

On committee member Amjad Ali Khan’s query, the railways secretary said the department had not taken over the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club so far and the takeover would take place on Saturday.

The officials informed the committee that the number of passengers in 2017-18 was 45.7 million and it had increased by 4.4 million to 50.1 million in 2018-19.