LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati on Tuesday suspended from service a train driver and his assistant for stopping on the way to purchase yoghurt near Kahna railway station.

The minister took action on a video that went viral on social media showing the train driver stopping and buying yoghurt from a shop.

After the video clip invited criticism of the railways department, which has been in trouble of late due to various issues of accidents, passenger safety and declining revenue, the minister took action and ordered the Pakistan Railways Lahore administration to suspend driver Rana Mohammad Shehzad and his assistant Iftikhar Hussain.

“I will not tolerate such events in the future and allow anyone to use national assets for personal use,” the minister warned in a statement.

Earlier in December, the PR had imposed a ban on the use of mobile phones by locomotive drivers and assistants while on a journey.

They had also been barred from taking selfies, recording video and audio messages on their phones in all trains (passenger and goods).

Respective divisional heads had also been directed to keep tracking crew members of a train (especially drivers and their assistants) and take prompt action if someone was flouting the orders.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2021