LAHORE: The federal government inspector of railways (FGIR) will hold an inquiry into the causes of derailment of eight wagons of a coal train near Rahim Yar Khan.

A directive to this effect was issued by Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique at a meeting at the Pakistan Railways headquarters in Lahore on Thursday.

Directing the FGIR to submit within 10 days a detailed report on derailment and fix responsibility, the minister said the railway system would be further improved in the light of the probe’s findings.

The minister also took notice of delay in launching relief operation that led to closure of the main track for more than 36 hours.

He also ordered half refund of fare to the passengers of trains which got delayed for 12 hours or so than their scheduled time on presentation of ticket at railway station concerned. Claims for the refund of fare should also be received at the booking offices, said the minister.

Regretting the inconvenience passengers had to face due to suspension of the rail traffic, the minister said the operation has started returning to normalcy.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2018