LAHORE: Another train derailed near Kundian in Mianwali on Tuesday, making this the fourth incident of derailment since April 2 and exposing the negligence on the part of Pakistan Railways (PR) in rehabilitating the track.

The Thal Express was on its way to Multan from Rawalpindi when some of its coaches derailed right after crossing Alluwali railway station on Tuesday afternoon. “The downward Thal Express’s speed was slow when it was passing the Alluwali station; at that time an upward Thal Express had stopped there for crossing,” Piplan Station House Officer Imran Yaqoob told Dawn after no one from the railways, including the chief executive officer and divisional superintendent (Multan division), could be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.

Since the speed was slow, the train’s first four coaches after the engine carrying several passengers derailed. However, the passengers remained safe.

Passengers remain safe as four coaches of Thal Express derail in Mianwali

“The passengers sitting in coaches 2 to 5 came out. Later, a relief train carrying field officials of the PR Khanewal junction staff reached the spot and started making efforts to get the derailed coaches back on track,” he explained. “After almost five hours, they finally managed to resolve the issue. It was perhaps Iftar time when the train resumed its journey to Multan.”

The train, which is known as Thal-Mianwali Express, was launched on the PR’s branch line route (Rawalpindi-Multan-Rawalpindi) a couple of months ago on the orders of the railways minister in a bid to provide ‘better and affordable travelling facilities’ to the residents of various cities, towns and villages. On April 2, a goods train derailed near Rahim Yar Khan, causing a loss of millions of rupees to the PR. Due to the incident, railway operations on the main line remained disrupted for almost seven days.

Later, another goods train derailed near Hyderabad, disrupting the operations again. And just a few days ago, one more goods train derailed near Padidan railway station near Sukkur, suspending railway operations for around three days.

“This is all due to the negligence of the PR in maintaining/upgrading the track. The railways minister also recently admitted this fact in a press conference,” a railways official commented on condition of anonymity.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2019