BAHAWALPUR: Railway traffic from Bahawalpur to Lahore remained suspended for 24 hours after six wagons of a goods train derailed near Bahalwalpur railway station on Saturday night, damaging a portion of the track. No one was injured in the incident.

Sources said that the train loaded with coal was going from Karachi to Yousafwala railway station near Sahiwal. It carried coal for a power plant in the area. The train was crossing a local railway station in Dhobi Ghat area when the wagons derailed, they added.

They said the railway traffic from Lahore to Karachi continued using an alternate track during the night between Saturday and Sunday.

According to the sources, repair work on the affected track could not begin during the night, causing problems for passengers travelling towards Lahore and other areas.

They said railway officials on two relief trains from Sammasatta and Khanewal reached the area on Sunday and began the repair work.

An official of Pakistan Railways in Multan, Iqbal Gilani, told Dawn that the repair work on the track would possibly be completed by Sunday night.

The station master in Bahawalpur, Hazoor Baksh, told Dawn that due to load of traffic on the alternate track the relief trains could not reach the area during the night.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2017