Train Accident near Gujrawala

[Musafir117]

Inna lillahi wa Innaillayhi Rajeoon
Sad incident and great lost.

 

[Fearrrr]

What a bad news！My Prayer for all affected.

 

[WAJsal]

Very sad to see. RIP. One of those thing easily avoidable. Old-busted- rail tracks, some dating back to the British era. Some of these bridges seriously need to be replaced.

 

[niaz]

Being from Sargodha & studying in Lahore, I had been regular user of Pakistan Railway (then called PWR that is Pakistan Western Railway) in my youth and I can vouch that most of the trains ran on time. Track was in good condition & the engines worked normally. This was so even during the floods. It therefore pains me to look at the shambles that Pakistan Railways currently is.

Main reason being that earlier, most of the staff & rail network had been trained & maintained during the colonial times; 10 years of Ayyub Khan were also by & large very well governed. There was a department of ‘Permanent Ways Inspection’ these used to go on hand worked track trolleys and inspected each & every mile of the railway line regularly. Everyone travelled long distances by the train.

Gift of democratic governments to Pakistani people is that due to over staffing & political appointments ; State corporations such as PIA & the Railways, are totally inefficient turned into a white elephant. General condition of Railways is such that now few middle class people bother to travel by Rail. When I need to go to my village, I fly to Lahore and on to Sargodha by car.

All members of the forum with engineering background would know that bridges don’t collapse all of a sudden. There are tell-tale signs such as cracks that start appearing on the structure long before the collapse.

Unless the sabotage is proven; it is certain that Inspection department is now staffed by ghosts. The staffs draw their salary but don’t turn up for work. This was a military train, hence something would be done; else with most of the senior staff being political appointees; the matter would have been brushed under the carpet.

Members of the forum with engineering background would know that bridges don’t collapse all of a sudden. There are tell-tale signs such as cracks that start appearing on the structure long before the collapse.

Unless the sabotage is proven; it is certain that Inspection department is now staffed by ghosts. The staffs draw their salary but don’t turn up for work. This was a military train, hence something would be done; else with most of the senior staff being political appointees; the matter would have been brushed under the carpet.

 

[ArsalanKhan21]

Death toll from Pakistan train accident rises to 17 as divers recover more bodies - The Globe and Mail


Death toll from Pakistan train accident rises to 17 as divers recover more bodies
Munir Ahmed

ISLAMABAD — The Associated Press

Published Friday, Jul. 03, 2015 4:28AM EDT

Pakistan’s military said Friday the death toll from an accident to a special train that plunged into a canal because of a bridge collapse has risen to 17. Divers were searching for more bodies.

The train derailed Thursday while crossing the Chanawan canal near the industrial city of Gujranwala in eastern Punjab province. Civil authorities and commandos and divers from the army retrieved 80 passengers, five of whom had been injured.


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Pakistani army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa, tweeted Friday that so far 17 bodies had been recovered and that the rescue work was still in progress.

The dead soldiers included the unit’s commander, his wife and a daughter, the state-run Pakistan television said.

TV networks showed footage of soldiers and civil authorities taking part in the rescue operation as helicopters flew overhead.

Shortly after the accident, soldiers broke the windows of the train with hammers and pulled out passengers trapped inside.

Pakistan Railways spokesman Abdul Rauf Tahir says another passenger train carrying hundreds of people had passed over the same bridge about 90 minutes before the train carrying soldiers fell into the canal.

“We frequently examine our bridges, but it is too early to say what caused the accident,” he told The Associated Press.

Shuja Khanzada, the provincial home minister, told reporters that the crash appeared to be an accident but that authorities were still investigating.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his “deep grief and sorrow” over the accident in a statement and conveyed his condolences to families of “martyred” soldiers.

Earlier, an army official and a government official said the train was being used by Pakistan’s army to transport soldiers from the southern Sindh province. They said hundreds of soldiers were participating in the rescue operation and experts from the army were examining the bridge to determine the cause of the collapse.

They said some of the army officers on board the train were travelling with their families.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where tracks and bridges are often poorly maintained. Small separatist groups in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan have been known to bomb railway tracks.

 

[انگریز]

Some nuts and bolts have been found missing from track. Not clear yet if disrepair or sabotage.
Eye winess reports say the engine derailed some 200 feet before the bridge. Bogies also derailed before entering bridge.
Actual reason was non alignment of tracks.

 

[Hurshid Celebi]

Allas Rahmet Eylesin.Yakinlarina Sabir diliyorum.

 

[Musafir117]

Being from Sargodha & studying in Lahore, I had been regular user of Pakistan Railway (then called PWR that is Pakistan Western Railway) in my youth and I can vouch that most of the trains ran on time. Track was in good condition & the engines worked normally. This was so even during the floods. It therefore pains me to look at the shambles that Pakistan Railways currently is.

Main reason being that earlier, most of the staff & rail network had been trained & maintained during the colonial times; 10 years of Ayyub Khan were also by & large very well governed. There was a department of ‘Permanent Ways Inspection’ these used to go on hand worked track trolleys and inspected each & every mile of the railway line regularly. Everyone travelled long distances by the train.

Gift of democratic governments to Pakistani people is that due to over staffing & political appointments ; State corporations such as PIA & the Railways, are totally inefficient turned into a white elephant. General condition of Railways is such that now few middle class people bother to travel by Rail. When I need to go to my village, I fly to Lahore and on to Sargodha by car.

All members of the forum with engineering background would know that bridges don’t collapse all of a sudden. There are tell-tale signs such as cracks that start appearing on the structure long before the collapse.

Unless the sabotage is proven; it is certain that Inspection department is now staffed by ghosts. The staffs draw their salary but don’t turn up for work. This was a military train, hence something would be done; else with most of the senior staff being political appointees; the matter would have been brushed under the carpet.

Members of the forum with engineering background would know that bridges don’t collapse all of a sudden. There are tell-tale signs such as cracks that start appearing on the structure long before the collapse.

Unless the sabotage is proven; it is certain that Inspection department is now staffed by ghosts. The staffs draw their salary but don’t turn up for work. This was a military train, hence something would be done; else with most of the senior staff being political appointees; the matter would have been brushed under the carpet.

Investigators find signs of sabotage in Gujranwala incident - thenews.com.pk

 

[Super Falcon]

Yes why not we should support naxals and khalustan openly give india some pain of their own medicine

 

[Javed Aslam]

#Pakistan needs [HASHTAG]#overhauling[/HASHTAG] in #rail #PIA #police etc etc as [HASHTAG]#incompetents[/HASHTAG] been recruited from top to bottom. As such the cause of the Thursday's rail tragedy which took at least 19 really prestigious lives of army officers, soldiers and their families has become a mystery, once more!!!

Pakistan desperately requires "meritocracy" throughout from top to bottom. Competency and professional standards are needed to be introduced across the board. In the national interest all state departments need to be screened and get their current and future employees through some strict competitive exams. Merit and professionalism is very serious and absolutely necessary for us especially if we want to compete with India and the rest of the world. Such cleansing necessitates even more given that after the independence in Pakistan merit and professional standards have never been followed as they should have been followed.

Corruption is a very serious rather a burning issue for Pakistan. Because incompetency is now causing direct harm to the structure and "national interest" of Pakistan. Pakistan needs to stop brain drain to UK, USA & EU and team up its professionals from within the country and abroad and merge their services to improve its infrastructure immediately. If the current government cannot protect Pakistan Army then why shouldn't Pak Army look after itself and takeover from Nawaz government which is rather a waste of time! It's purely due to lack of competence that Pakistan Railways authorities inclusive of Mr S. Rafique have turn down suggestions of the tragedy being the consequence of an act of terrorism while also jumping to claim that the bridge in question was capable of handling railway traffic. But something indeed went wrong that caused this bloodstained episode. Official explanations aside, the bridge in question according to Pakistani media reports was built in British colonial times. Alas, this is just one of a large number of monuments across Pakistan that were built by British colonial rulers, albeit to suit the needs of South Asia’s foreign masters. And yet, while living in a decolonized and independent country, life for Pakistanis including many afflicted with unending daily pain is far from perfect.

The train crash coincided with continuing reports of low income and electricity-deprived neighborhoods across the southern port city of Karachi suffering more than just the consequences of a continuing heat wave. More than 1,200 people have died since the arrival of brutal summer temperatures combined with ever growing electricity shortages and a virtual absence of water supply. What could be worse? Possibly an active war zone.

Ironically, these troubling times have coincided with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pressing ahead with one whimsical choice after another, while visibly paying little more than lip service to real life challenges.. Seemingly ignoring the plight of mainstream Pakistanis and their unending pain, Sharif’s government so far appears to have utterly failed in tackling the country’s most pressing issues. Just days before Thursday’s tragedy, Sharif formally inaugurated a new expressway which is meant to eventually Islamabad with the suburban town of Rawat.

The project will supposedly allow a free flow of traffic without any signals along the way, cutting down time for travelers to and from the capital. Ironically though, neither Rawat nor Islamabad are able to assure a reliable supply of electricity or water to the poorest of the poor neighborhoods. In recent weeks, rising summer temperatures have coincided with severe water shortages across urban Pakistan including Islamabad, just adding grief to the ongoing pain.

The capital’s irony is indeed all too visible for those who have recently seen Sharif’s government formally launch a new air-conditioned bus service, inaugurated by the prime minister amidst much fanfare. Known as Islamabad’s metrobus, the project is indeed in line with the ruling structure’s refusal to accept the writing on the wall. While Pakistanis suffer in pain, the ruling structure presses ahead with its fanciful choices ignoring the needs of ordinary Pakistanis.

The Islamabad bus project has followed a similar venture earlier undertaken in the city of Lahore-Sharif’s home town. Ironically though, even Lahore’s poverty stricken neighborhoods present a dismal picture of brutal energy shortages just like other parts of Pakistan, with their home grown leader showing little capability of providing hope for the foreseeable future.

Going forward as Pakistan battles multiple challenges, Sharif and other members of the ruling structure continue to pursue their choices which are hardly in sync with Pakistan’s rapidly growing needs. A new train project is planned to run in Lahore and that too on electricity, further aggravating the existing shortages. Another train project is planned to run from Islamabad to Muzaffarabad in the mountainous region of Kashmir. Indeed, such ventures promise to gobble up billions of Dollars which Pakistan will end up borrowing and subsequently adding to the cost of keeping up with its ever growing debt payments. For ordinary Pakistanis, any number of fanciful projects just do not provide hope for a more promising future. In contrast, they only promise to aggravate their daily living conditions. Ending the growing pain for Pakistanis requires more than just a mere policy shift. Indeed, there has to be a radical shift not just in the thinking processes but also in terms of the choices made. The aggravation surrounding poorest of the poor Pakistanis is so immense that nothing short of a national emergency is urgently needed to make a difference. Pakistan’s ruling elite in fact need to halt the country’s under execution or planned fanciful projects wherever immediately possible. To manage the crisis, there needs to be a fresh and concerted push on diverting all available resources on just three pivotal areas.

In order to survive, be competitive and make some progress Pakistan govt needs to get its priorities right. Our agricultural based economy needs a proper network of canals and irrigation in order to reduce the affects of Indian monopoly and control on our rivers (inc the Chenab, Satluj, Jehlum, Ravi & Biyas). And most of all we need to scrutinize our, so called, politicians and political system. We need to stop the government from borrowing more, making more commissions and introduce some competence tests/exams for candidates of the national and provincial assemblies. As well as some clear criteria for the senate members. So that our future political leadership can (nationally and internationally) watch Pakistan's national interest and look after our lives better!!!.

(The author is a practicing lawyer in England and can be found/followed on twitter @ Malik M Javed Aslam)

 

[third eye]

Unless the sabotage is proven; it is certain that Inspection department is now staffed by ghosts. The staffs draw their salary but don’t turn up for work. This was a military train, hence something would be done; else with most of the senior staff being political appointees; the matter would have been brushed under the carpet.

Gujranwala train accident was result of over-speeding: inquiry report - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

LAHORE: The joint inquiry committee constituted to probe the Gujranwala train accident has submitted its report today to the federal government according to which the cause of the mishap has been attributed to over-speeding.

“The train was over-speeding and running at more than double the permissible speed of 30 km per hour for group-1 locomotives,” said Aftab Akbar, spokesperson for Ministry of Railways.

Read: JIT report to ascertain cause of Gujranwala train accident: Saad Rafique

“Over-speeding led to an increase in lateral and vertical oscillations, which resulted in the rear wheels of the locomotive truck to derail inside and outside the track,” added Akbar.

Earlier, an inquiry committee had been constituted, comprising of senior officers from the Ministry of Railways and Pakistan Army, to probe the cause of the train accident which led to the tragic accident and claimed the lives of 19 people, most of them army men.

The committee reached its conclusion after a detailed investigation in to the matter.

It is pertinent to mention that Railway engineers had earlier confirmed that there was no speed limit for the tracks and the Pakistan Express had passed the bridge at 65km per hour before the accident.

Read also: 19 die as train carrying army men falls into canal near Gujranwala

At least 19 people, including four army officers, were killed when locomotive and three carriages carrying soldiers from Pano Aqil to Kharian had plunged into a canal on July 2 near Gujranwala, apparently due to collapse of a bridge.

Addressing a press conference on July 6, Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique had said that the locomotive was overspeeding and the driver had pulled emergency break some 945 feet before the Chanawan Bridge as a result of which the engine and bogies derailed.

He further said that the train had mysteriously exceeded the speed limit before the accident occurred.

The PML-N leader had also claimed earlier that the condition of both the tracks and the Chanawan Bridge was fine and even after the accident all but one of its pillars remained intact.

 

[VCheng]

The joint inquiry committee constituted to probe the Gujranwala train accident has submitted its report today to the federal government according to which the cause of the mishap has been attributed to over-speeding.

“The train was over-speeding and running at more than double the permissible speed of 30 km per hour for group-1 locomotives,” said Aftab Akbar, spokesperson for Ministry of Railways.

So how are those people going to explain this who were so sure this accident was sabotage? Another conspiracy?