Railway commuters did not get any respite from their sufferings as trains got delayed for up to 10 hours from the scheduled time after Eid holidays ended on Saturday.
The passengers and relatives of commuters arriving from other cities were observed oscillating between the Enquiry Office and the Station-Master’s office, hoping to learn the truth about the arrival and departure of trains from the Lahore Railway Station, but in vain as neither of the offices were in possession of this information themselves.
Railway employees told Pakistan Today that the same situation prevailed during Eid holidays and the special Eid trains arrived and departed late, which caused problems for commuters and resulted in many enraged passengers attempting to damage railway offices.
On Saturday, people at the railway station were seen quarrelling with railway staff in attempts to obtain correct information.
The PR administration had failed to operate trains on time, even from its headquarters, passengers said, adding that they often had to wait for three to four hours for the departure of trains.
According to details, Karachi Express’ scheduled arrival time was 3.45pm, but it arrived at 8.45pm (almost five hours late), Tezgam Express was expected at 3.15am but it reached at 9.00am (almost six hours late), Alama Iqbal Express’ scheduled time of arrival was 11.15am, but with more than a 10 hours delay, it arrived at 10.35 pm, the Quetta Express’ time of arrival was 8.40am but it arrived at 7.20pm. (an almost 10 hours delay), Tez Gam was scheduled to arrive at 5.00pm but it could not reach Lahore till 9.00pm (four hours late), Jaffer Express’s time of arrival time was 5.00pm but according to the railway information office it would reach Lahore at 12.00am (seven hours late), while Badr Express was scheduled to reach at 01.30pm but arrived at 7.05pm (6.25 hours late).
