Passengers in a fix after rail disaster disrupts trains schedule

KARACHI: Following the tragic and unfortunate derailment of the Hazara Express in Nawabshah, there was chaos and confusion witnessed at the Cantonment Railway Station, where passengers waited to board their trains, which were just not moving.

The trains were all awaiting signal to depart as traffic on the railway tracks was held up. All the trains to reach Karachi as well as departing from Karachi were delayed.

All the platforms had passengers waiting with their luggage, tired and miserable children and elderly family members. Some elderly passengers were also in wheelchairs. All the platforms benches had also been taken after which the passengers just sat down on the floor while also guarding their luggage.

Not knowing when traffic will be restored some decided to dig into their tiffin boxes to eat the food they had packed with them to have while travelling.

Many of them were on the phone informing relatives about the situation, telling them that they were fine. By evening they were also thinking to going back because things did not seem to be improving since afternoon when they heard about the fateful accident. There were also some among them who just decided to cancel travel by train because they were afraid and worried about train travel being unsafe.

As a result of the mishap, the Pak Business Express and the Farid Express, which had left their cities and stations already had to be stopped midway and were said to be three hours late at least.

The Karachi Express, Millat Express, Allama Iqbal Express, Zakaria Express, Green Line Express, Sukkur Express, Khyber Mail and Tezgam were also delayed by three hours each.

The Rahman Baba Express was delayed by one hour and 15 minutes, the Pakistan Express was delayed by four hours and 15 minutes, the Karakoram Express was delayed by four hours and the Shalimar Express was delayed by two hours and 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Railways set up emergency information desks at both the Karachi Cantonment and City Stations along with one at Hyderabad, too.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2023