Railways trying to cover up 'sabotage'

Naqi Akbar
LAHORE - Pakistan Railway is consciously trying to cover up the ‘sabotage’ aspect of the December 19 Mehrabpur accident; in the process avoiding a possible clash with the provincial administration; in this case the Sindh government.
Conversations with knowledgeable sources by TheNation revealed that the ‘welded area contraction’ theory advanced by the Railways high ups was based on faulty parameters and that the magnitude of the accident witnessed in the small Sindh station could not have been caused by the simple break rather that needed the dismantling of the structure in a way that the track could not withhold a high speed locomotive and cause a massive accident.
Sources told TheNation that the high ranking PR officials ‘welding theory’ was even rejected by the DS Lahore who was by chance onboard his salon in the 15 UP Karachi Express on that fateful mid night crash.
Having the first hand knowledge of the accident, he pointed to the source that the extent of damage would not have been possible without the sabotage option being considered.
A former railway engineer on the condition of not being quoted pointed out that the winter season was usually followed by contraction of the tracks and that contraction was generally triangular shaped in nature; with the upper section breakage more wider than the crack in the base area. He said that these types of breaks were numerous along the whole track and that crack never dismantles the piece of track in a manner that it can be dismantled by speedy locomotive.
He pointed out that if a locomotive passes over such a crack, at most there are jolts as are very commonly experienced in the rail journey but does not dislocates the track as has been claimed by the high ups. He pointed out that going by the fact that the track over which the accident took place was straight simple contraction led welding break as not the probable cause of the crash.
He argued that weld break if coupled with dismantled fishplates and tracks could make the accident possible. In this context sources pointed out that going for the sabotage option was likely to create friction between the Pakistan Railway and the provincial police as the PR itself boasted of a separate police force meant to keep the security onboard and on track.
Accepting the terror plot proposition was tantamount to accepting a security lapse by the railway itself. As things stand the official report is expected in few weeks but the fact remains that there is a dichotomy of perceptions between the PR high ups and the engineering experts.

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