Dhakka start drama at Rohri

ROHRI: Two Karachi-bound trains, the Awami and Super Express, did not have enough diesel to reach their destination on Saturday. Passengers were forced to wait at the Rohri train station after the drivers refused to continue the journey.

Rohri is the main junction where train drivers are rotated. When the new drivers take over, they check the engine and the amount of fuel.

The drivers declared that the fuel was not enough to take them to Karachi. The trains are supposed to be fuelled in Lahore.

The Awami Express, which was coming from Peshawar, arrived at 2:10 pm, while the Super Express that was carrying passengers from Faisalabad reached its final destination at 2:40 pm. The trains were already late by five hours when they reached Rohri.

Even though the local railway authorities managed to get fuel from Karachi on time, the procedure, which involves the checking of the quality and quantity of diesel, would have taken a very long time. So the authorities directed the drivers to replace the engines with the ones in the locomotive shed workshop.

After the drivers got off to switch the engines, there was a short circuiting in one bogie of the Super Express and a fire broke out, causing a stampede of the already frazzled passengers. The railway authorities evacuated the bogie and managed to extinguish the fire.

After the situation was brought under control and when the Awami Express was ready to leave for its destination, the alternate engine also failed.

When the passengers found out about the delay, they alighted and started protesting. They complained about how they suffered for three hours under the scorching heat without proper travel facilities. A temperature of 44 degrees centigrade was recorded in Rohri on Saturday.

Passengers of the Super Express and the Hazara Express, coming from Havelian that also stopped at the Rohri station for some time, joined the protest, increasing the number of angry people to about 1,000. People aboard the Hazara Express demonstrated against a severe water shortage on board and some bogies being deprived of electricity.

After the authorities negotiated with the passengers, the trains were able to leave Rohri at around 5:30 pm.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2010.