Rail travel in Pakistan has been revealed to be unsafe as compared to neighboring countries.
In the investigation report of the Directorate General of Audit Railways, Lahore, alarming data related to railway accidents have been revealed, in which major flaws in the safety measures have been identified.
According to the news agency, the investigation report revealed that 1,097 train accidents were reported from 2013 to 2021. During the last nine years, 631 passengers lost their lives while 780 people were seriously injured.
The audit report showed that more than 100 accidents occur in Pakistan Railways annually and more than 70 passengers lose their lives yearly, while the number of major accidents is 360.
The audit compared accidents in Pakistan with other countries using the internationally recognized “Safety Index Model”, according to which Pakistan has the highest proportion of train accidents compared to neighboring countries. Rail travel in Pakistan has been revealed to be unsafe.
The report cited 1565 gateless train crossings on the railway network as the major cause of accidents. Apart from this, 493 train collision accidents occurred due to violations of traffic rules. In Pakistan, 117 to 164 accidents occurred per million kilometers of train travel.