Dilapidated level crossings jeopardise commuters
During the past seven decades, Pakistan Railways, alongside the provincial governments and district administrations, has failed to formulate an effective strategy for the construction and repair of roads and gates at level crossings, which have become the junctions of death for regular commuters.
Muhammad Faqir, a resident of Peshawar, still remembers the tragic death of his father, who was struck and killed by a train. "The trains pass through the city areas, but no precautionary measures are in place. The outdated century-old system still operates, and no significant improvements have been made to prevent these accidents," said Faqir, who simultaneously criticized the allocation of funds within Pakistan Railways.
Similarly, Hassan Rahim Sunny, a resident of the Lal Pul area of Lahore, revealed that due to the absence of gates at the Canal Road junction, people and cars would often end up in accidents from time to time while traffic jams were also a frequent occurrence.
According to information obtained by The Express Tribune, a total of 3,783 level crossings are present across 11,881 kilometers of railway tracks spanning the country, out of which barely 1,700 have gates, while the remaining 55 per cent have no gates.
Former Chief Engineer Railways Afzal Bajwa revealed that since the establishment of Pakistan, the construction of a road at a level crossing has been the responsibility of the government of the respective province.
"But unfortunately, the concerned departments do not cooperate with each other, due to which the roads at the level crossings remain dilapidated and accidents frequently occur," regretted Bajwa.
According to a report from the Auditor General of Pakistan, from 2013 to 2021, the number of railway accidents reported across various cities has been alarmingly high. Lahore led with 296 incidents, followed by Multan with 246 and Sukkur with 235. Peshawar recorded 27 accidents, while other cities such as Rawalpindi, Quetta, and Karachi reported 100, 37, and 156 accidents, respectively.
In his defense, the Additional Secretary of the Communication and Works (C&W) Department Punjab, Ahmed Kamal, claimed that the failure of the railway authorities to repair railway tracks had prevented their department from doing their job. "Only when the track is repaired will it be possible to build and repair the road," said Kamal.
Highlighting the lack of coordination among departments, Mian Muhammad Irfan, an engineer at a construction company, claimed that they were given a contract to build level crossings but were not given the funds.
While the railway authorities lack reliable data on the condition of junctions in K-P, key stations like Peshawar, Nowshera, and Mardan are plagued with deteriorating gates and infrastructure. As a result, accidents continue to happen year after year.
Not much different is the case in Sindh, where a shortage of gatekeepers at level crossings continues to cause accidents. Manzoor Razi, Chairman of the Railway Workers Union, revealed that 40 per cent of the staff deployed at level crossings has been removed due to funding issues. Furthermore, only 30 out of 150 level crossings have gates.
However, Pakistan Railways has declared it impossible to hire watchmen and install gates at crossings on the grounds that Rs50 billion will be required to install gates, and the railways do not have such funds. Apparently, an A-class level crossing gate costs Rs17 million while a B-class gate costs Rs4 million.
Speaking on the matter, railway officials have made it clear that in the future, if any province wants to build a level crossing, it will be allowed to do so only through underground or overhead bridge crossings.
"Arrangements are being made to install gates at central railway lines. The cooperation of concerned agencies is being sought to prevent accidents," said a railway official.