Suspended train service derails passengers’ plans
Despite the passage of more than a month, Pakistan Railways has failed to resume intercity rail service between Landhi and City Station.
A critical shortage of working locomotives had forced railways to discontinue the service. The future of the only other intercity train service, that connects City Station with Marshalling Yard, is also in doubt.
The two trains are predominantly used by railway employees for commuting to and from their workplace, for a nominal fare of Rs20. Residents of areas like Drigh Colony, Malir City, Malir Halt, Landhi, Jumma Goth and Dhabeji, which are near railway tracks, also use the trains to commute to the city centre, informed railway employees union’s divisional president, Muqadar Zaman.
A railway official said on the condition of anonymity that rail service between Landhi and City Station will be suspended for over a week. “The condition of [intercity] trains has been deteriorating, and the shortage of locomotives was also leading to delays,” he said. The train used to carry nearly 400 passengers every day.
Zaman says that the trains offer an affordable method of transportation to railway employees as well as the general public, and that they should not be discontinued if they are not financially viable. He recalled that Pakistan Railways used to operate four trains in the city four years back, with two in the morning and the remaining in the evening.
“[Intercity] trains provide a safe mode of transport in the city, given the deteriorating law and order situation here.” Railway employees who live near Drigh Road and Landhi now commute to work by the Multan-bound Bahauddin Zakaria Express.
Pakistan Railways divisional commercial officer Shoaib Adil acknowledged that the service was discontinued due to shortage of locomotives. “We try to operate trains whenever we have locomotives available for them.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2012.
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Is train service between Landhi and City Station an 'inter-city' service? The word inter-city refers to service between cities. This service is within the city of Karachi, and should therefore be called intra-city? Would the editor throw some light on this and correct me if I am wrong?