QUETTA: A bomb blast on the railway track on Sunday derailed six passenger bogies of the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express near the Spizend area of Mastung district, some 30km from the provincial capital.
However, no casualties were reported in the derailment.
“Despite the derailment of the six bogies, no casualties have taken place in the powerful blast on the main railway track,” a senior official of the Pakistan Railway said, adding that the blast took place on the track when the Jaffar Express, coming from Quetta, was passing through the area.
The train operation has been suspended by Pakistan Railways after the blast and derailment of the bogies. The blast damaged the railway track that connects Quetta with other parts of the country.
It was a second bomb attack on the Jaffar Express over last three days. Earlier, the Jaffar Express escaped a bomb attack in Sibi.
Unidentified people had planted an IED at the outer signal of the railway station, but it exploded after passing of the train.
Officials of Pakistan Railways said that the train left from Quetta station for Peshawar on its scheduled time and reached the area after an hour’s journey and when it was passing through the Spizend area, a powerful explosion took place at the railways track. The driver of the train applied emergency brakes to stop the train.
“Six bogies of the train derailed after the blast,” a Levies official present in the area said, adding that two bogies were badly damaged. Soon after the blast and bogies derailment, passengers came out of the train.
Members of security forces immediately reached the spot, cordoned off the area and started a rescue operation.
The Pakistan Railways relief train also reached the area from Quetta, rescued passengers and took them back to Quetta.
Initial investigations revealed that unknown people had planted an explosive device on the railway track, which was detonated with a remote control device. A big portion of the main railway track was blown up by the blast, causing suspension of railway traffic between Quetta and the rest of the country.
“Six bogies were derailed and two were damaged badly,” a senior official of Pakistan Railways said, confirming the suspension of the train service.
He said that the work to replace the damaged railway track has been launched.
He said Pakistan Railways has shifted passengers of the affected train to Quetta through another train. “The passengers have also been refunded their ticket money,” he said.
Pakistan Railways announcd the train service of Jaffar Express from Peshawar to Quetta has been halted from August 10 and its Quetta-to-Peshawar service will stay suspended from August 11 to August 14.
Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2025
