LAHORE:
In 2009, the government had decided to replace the British-era lever and cable system, also known as kanta, with a digital alternative to electricity to prevent daily accidents and ensure arrival trains on time. However, even after more than 15 years and a budget increase of nearly Rs7 billion, the project, which has become a white elephant for the railways, is still not completed.
It is worth mentioning that there is a manual signaling system from Lodhran to Rohri and Sukkur and from Shahdara to Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Peshawar. In the manual system, vehicle movement is controlled by manually pulling a lever while rail traffic is managed by green and red lights and colored flags.
Pakistan Railways sources revealed that the digital signaling system was supposed to be installed in 2013, but due to lack of funds, the project could not be completed. Under the project, 31 railway stations were to be connected from Lodhran to Shahdara. However, due to poor strategy, untrained officers, lack of staff and electricity problems, the project faced delays.
Tariq Rasheed, a passenger traveling from Lahore to Multan, revealed that a few days ago, electricity on the main line was cut off at Chichawatni railway station due to non-payment of electricity bills. “As a result, the digital signage system stopped working and we had to wait for hours,” lamented Rasheed.
Similarly, Shahid Nazir, another passenger traveling from Lahore to Okara, revealed that the digital signaling system was not working due to non-payment of electricity bills at Okara railway station. “As the trains were late, passengers must have suffered a lot,” said Nazir, who believes that train operations should be restored for the convenience of passengers.
According to the former Chief Electrical Engineer of Pakistan Railways, the modern computerized signaling system of Pakistan Railways has now become a bone stuck in the throat of the Railways. “Dozens of trains are delayed for several hours due to daily breakdowns, while trains have to use more petroleum products due to the inefficiency of the level crossing. The new system has been installed in only 60 percent of the stations on Pakistan Railways’ main line. Since this digital signaling system works with high power electricity, how can we expect it to work when there is no electricity at the station,” exclaimed the ‘former chief, who further revealed that in the past year, more than 10 railway stations had been cut off, which were later restored.
Likewise, officials of the Railway Workers’ Union confirmed that due to various obstacles, the project could only be completed up to Chichawatani. “Valuable equipment is lying around at various railway stations and stations, which has given rise to complaints of theft,” the officials said. On the other hand, Pakistan Railways officials claimed that the electricity bills had been paid and the digital signaling system had been restored.
