LAHORE, Sept 3: Rail traffic on the main line connecting Karachi with the rest of the country remained suspended for two hours after a goods train derailed near the Rohri station on Saturday.

“The Peshawar-bound Goods In Transit to Afghanistan (GITA) train derailed at around 7.30am,” officials told Dawn here.

The locomotive of the 6119-Up went off tracks followed by five covered wagons, according to officials at the railways headquarters. The track was cleared and the traffic restored by 10am, officials said.

GITA was the 62nd train derailed since Jan 1 this year, according to sources.

“The track was cleared in two hours or so because Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is likely to inaugurate the maiden Freight Train Service from the Lahore Cantt station on Sept 5 — the first joint venture with the private sector for handling 12,000 containers per annum at the Mughalpura dryport,” sources said.

Railways Minister Shamim Haider visited the Lahore Cantt station to review arrangements made for the scheduled visit of the prime minister.