ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Railways was going to eliminate all level crossings onMain Line-I (Karachi to Peshawar) by providing under passes and flyoversunder China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC).
As many as 1,218 staffers of Pakistan Railways have been punished duringthe last 16 years for negligence causing train accidents across the country.
According to available official document, from 2003 to 2019, the departmentremoved 24 officials from service, 16 staffers were dismissed from service,36 persons compulsory retired from service, 189 persons were demoted, 723officials were punished with holding of increment, 171 persons censured, 45issued warning while 14 staffers expired.
To control the train derailments and accidents, Pakistan Railways was goingto up-grade unmanned and vulnerable railway level crossings across thecountry in collaboration with respective provincial governments.
Timely refresher courses and safety seminars were also being arranged toenhance the professional knowledge of the staff and auto train protectionsystem was also underway to minimize such accidents as this system appliesbrake automatically if the drivers of train fail to respond to red signal.
According to railway guidelines, a professional knowledge testing scheduleshould be observed after every six months for drivers particularly ofMultan, Lahore, Sukkur, and Karachi divisions working with auto blocksignaling, the document said.
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Joint certificate to this effect would be issued by the Divisional SignalEngineer and Divisional Mechanical Engineer certifying competency of driverespecially regarding the knowledge of auto block signaling.
Road surface of all level crossings was being improved together withrenovated warning boards and provision of reliable communication (VHFradio) between ground staff and locomotives crew.
The Directorate of Public Relations had produced video messages forcirculations over social media to inform public about the dangersassociated with railway crossings, it said.
