Red signal

Train travel remains, around the world, the most popular means of commuting. This is true in our country too. The scrapping of six passenger trains, including the Shalimar Express between Lahore and Karachi, is guaranteed to cause maximum inconvenience to a very large number. In the last few years, as air travel costs have risen beyond the means of all but a few, more people have switched to trains. For a short while, as services were improved and better checks imposed to ensure punctual departure, it had seemed rail services could find new life. These hopes have been quickly dashed. We are told financial considerations are the key factor behind the cut in train services.

The ministry has said it lacks sufficient engines to keep them running. The Pakistan Railways is backed by an extensive rail network, much of it laid down in colonial times, and has the potential for its trains to chug proudly across the country rather than falling into disrepair. Poor maintenance is said to be responsible for the collapse of some of the most newly acquired locomotives. Indeed, today, in an age of electronic trains, we should be laying new rail lines able to sustain their speed and offer quick access across the country. Instead, over the last few months we have seen more and more delays and the disruption of services, leaving people stranded.

The fact that the potential of the Railways is not even being considered is extraordinary. There should be an inquiry as to why things have been permitted to reach so sorry a state. Rather than scrapping services we need to think about how the department can be rejuvenated as a means to offer people efficient transport. We expect parliamentarians to raise this question in the National Assembly and to ask how people who cannot afford air fares are expected to travel — for business, for leisure or to see family.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2010.