LAHORE: Three passenger coaches of Shalimar Express derailed at Shahdara bridge, around 5-6km away from Lahore railway station, at 9am on Friday morning.

Fortunately, no causality was reported in the incident, according to official sources.

However, the accident caused massive damage to the derailed coaches and the track, while it took the railway staff several hours to remove the derailed coaches from the track to restore the train operations on the main line-1 (ML-1).

Official sources say that the 28-Down Karachi-bound train (Lahore-Karachi via Faisalabad) faced derailment at Shahdra bridge around 10 minutes after it left the Lahore station.

At the time of the derailment, the train had reportedly a speed of over 60km per hour, the sources added. However, they said the exact speed would be confirmed in the inquiry report on the incident.

“Though all passengers remained safe, a considerable loss to the rolling stock and infrastructure has been reported,” said one of the official sources.

He said the relief operation commenced after a relief train was dispatched to the site, and the three damaged coaches were replaced with new ones, before restoring the rail traffic on the ML-1.

On the other hand, the PR top management has order an inquiry into the incident. When contacted, the PR Chief Executive Officer Amir Ali Baloch claimed that the relief operation took around four hours to complete, after which the track was cleared for the rail traffic.

“The incident took place around 9:30am. Our teams immediately rushed to the spot and started relief operation,” he maintained.

To a question, he said: “Yes there were issues related to trains detention and removal of affected coaches from the track, but all this was done quickly.”

Meanwhile, the CEO stated in a press release that there would be no compromise on passenger safety, as a committee comprising senior officials has been formed to determine the causes of the derailment.

The committee comprises deputy chief engineer (bridges), deputy chief mechanical engineer (carriages) and deputy COP (safety). The committee will submit a detailed report next week, following which a strict action will be taken against those found guilty, he said.

The CEO emphasised that the Pakistan Railways remains one of the safest modes of travel in the country. Over the past two years, he said, significant safety measures have been implemented, leading to a considerable reduction in derailment incidents. As a result, 42 million passengers trusted the Pakistan Railways for their journeys in 2024, he added.

He also highlighted that railway tracks undergo regular inspections, and rectifying measures are taken wherever any flaw is detected, to ensure passengers’ safety.

Currently, he said, 13 projects are underway in the Sukkur-Rohri section to improve the track’s conditions, while similar projects are in progress across other divisions.

“At present (till the filing of this report), all trains across the country are operating as per schedule,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2025