Railways suffer Rs 60 lakh loss

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 22

The Railways has suffered a loss of around Rs 60 lakh following the closure of Amritsar-Jalandhar and Amritsar-Gurdaspur lines for two days after the gruesome rail accident on Dasehra night. The route for rail traffic was opened Sunday night. The railway had made arrangements for refund worth Rs 2.78 lakh.

The railway has not yet assessed damages inflicted to the accident relief train (ART) and vandalism at the cabin of the gateman at Joda Phatak. Vigilant residents have demand enactment of a law to debar any person from blocking rail traffic as it causes loss to the exchequer.

Social activist MK Sharma said it was painful to see innocent passengers losing their lives in an avoidable run over. However, common public with no fault of theirs had to undergo arduous delay and cancellations of their journeys due to the discontinuing of train service.

NS Gabarhia, a retired railway employee, demanded an enactment of a legislation to deter groups, irrespective of their affiliation to any religious, social, political and professional leanings, from hampering the movement of trains.

Many persons had to forego their appointments and other fixtures like attending medical emergencies and other such commitments. He said the painful personal loss to passengers cannot be estimated. They come last on priority and are left to fend for themselves.

However, it is painful to see children, families and handicapped suffering with no fault of theirs as they arduously wait for their trains.