And yet again another accident

[WWW]

12:51 pm ET

Train barrels into another in Pakistan, killing at least 45

GHOTKI, Pakistan (AP) — An express train barreled into another that had derailed in Pakistan before dawn Monday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said. More than 100 were injured, and rescuers and villagers worked throughout the day to search crumpled cars for survivors and the dead. Cries for help pierced the night as passengers climbed out of overturned or crushed rail cars, and continued to echo throughout the day at the scene in the district of Ghotki, in the southern province of Sindh.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

One train derailed and fowl the track of a train going in the other direction. Bad timing.

The lack of emergency equipment is painful to see.

One of the stories stated how the government was hoping for the Chinese to invest in there railroad.

 

[jis]

More info on this accident from a source that is accessible without subscription

https://www.reuters.com/world/india...n-pakistan-train-collision-police-2021-06-07/
The location of the accident in Sindh province.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/G...bed8c74b7a2c55e!8m2!3d28.0271155!4d69.3235123

One train derailed and fowl the track of a train going in the other direction. Bad timing.

The lack of emergency equipment is painful to see.

Under the most able guidance of the US, Pakistan basically underfunded its railways to almost extinction. At one time they ahd started electrifying their railways using 25kV like everyone else, with British help, but all that came to a screeching halt and electric service was discontinued and the infrastructure allowed to rot away. Until they realized looking at China, India and even Bangladesh how difficult it had become for them to transport things and people depending only on a road system consisting of a few showcase highways and otherwise dilapidated rural system.

One of the stories stated how the government was hoping for the Chinese to invest in there railroad.

So they started rebuilding it using Chinese aid, until they arrived at a point where they realized that they had hocked themselves completely to the Chinese, and started pushing back on further aid from China. And so they are in a pickle. They had this grand project of upgrading railways under the Chinese Belt and Road Program, which is not at a standstill while they bicker, and as is usual in that part of the world, life just goes on.

Hopefully they will be able to diversify their aid source following Bangladeh's example. But a fundamental problem that Pakistan faces that Bangladesh doesn't is the enormous proportion of their budget that they spend on defense, leaving no money for anything else, even the matching parts for getting aid funding.