LAHORE, Aug 7: Twelve trains will be operating to and from Karachi while Hyderabad will be the last and first stops for another six. “The revised schedule is likely to remain in force for over two months as the repair of the damaged bridge between Ran Pathani and Dhabeji stations in the Thatta district required 70 days or so and that too if the weather conditions remained favourable,” officials told Dawn on Monday.

At present, no freight trains could be allowed to pass the makeshift bridge because even the passenger trains could not pass the alternative track at the maximum speed of 10-15 kilometres per hour, they said.

Floodwater on July 30 had damaged three spans of a bridge between Ran Pathani and Dhabeji stations, forcing the Karachi division authorities to suspended the operation of all upcountry trains and halting all down-country trains at Hyderabad.

Train service to and from the Sindh capital resumed on Aug 5 when railway authorities erected a makeshift bridge near the damaged flyover.

The mail and express trains that would operate to and from Karachi are Khyber Mail (1-up/2-down), Sindh Express (5-up/6-down), Tezgam (7-up/8-down), Allama Iqbal Express (9-up/10-down), Awam Express (13-up/14-down), Karachi Express (15-up/16-down), Millat Express (17-up/18-down), Khushal Khan Khattak Express (19-up/20-down), Shalimar Express (27-up/28-down), Balochistan Express (31-up/32-down), Karakoram Express (41-up/42-down) and Sukkur Express (145-up/146-down).

Hyderabad will be the first or last stop for Bolan Mail (3-up/4-down), Hazara Express (11-up/12-down), Bahauddin Zakria Express (25-up/26-down), Shah Rukn-i-Alam Express (29-up/30-down), Faisalabad Express (35-up/36-down) and Farid Express (37-up/38-down).