Commuters were at the losing end of the almost 12-hour strike by railway workers during which no locomotive was allowed to leave the engine shed in Garhi Shahu.
As a result not a single train left Lahore Railway station yesterday since the strike began at 7.30 am till late night.
Coaches of the main express trains to Karachi and Quetta were all assembled on the tracks – with their locomotives missing. The passengers waiting for the trains to depart were left guessing. No official of Pakistan Railways was available at the station to guide the passengers.
After waiting for many hours, the passengers started tiring of the wait, preferring to return their tickets – even though they had to bear 30% cancellation charges – and use an alternative way of travel. Long queues were observed at the reservation counters for the purpose.
Tezgam and Jaffar express administration, however, offered a full refund.
Some, however, who had to travel long distances with their families had no other choice than to wait until the locomotives were released. Naeem Mahmood, who had settled in with his family in a Quetta-bound train, said that travelling with his family in local buses for the long journey would be “tough”. “I was aware of the dilapidated condition of railways but was not expecting such a scenario,” he said.
He said that he had been at the station for five hours. “No officer or station master is available who could tell us what’s going on and when a locomotive will be available.”
At their end, the Rail Mazdoor Ittehad (RMI) leaders who had organised the strike complained that no senior officer had bothered to contact the protesters the whole day. Sarfaraz Khan, the RMI president told The Express Tribune that they kept waiting for an official to contact them for negotiations. “We are surprised at the behaviour of higher authorities. No one even called us to end the strike!”
As for the inconvenience caused to the passengers as a result of the strike, Khan said that even though the workers realised that the public would be affected, it was a matter of survival for them. “It has become harder for us to support our families in such circumstances.”
After almost 12 hours of protest, the workers who had vowed to continue the strike until their salaries were paid ended the strike for a night after Divisional Personnel Officer Tariq Sipra talked to them.
Sipra asked them to call off the strike for the night and resume it today (Tuesday). He said he was unable to tell them for sure when their salaries would be released.
The loco shed staff agreed to allow a few locomotives to be released from the shed so that express trains like Karakoram Express and Karachi Express could depart for their destinations. The administration said that ensuring the departure of Tezgam and Allama Iqbal Express was its first priority, followed by Karakorum and Karachi Expresses.
At around 10.10 pm, Tezgam Express departed from the City Railway Station.
The RMI leaders said that they would resume their strike from noon today (Tuesday) if their salaries were not released by then.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 18th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ