LAHORE, June 30: Halting of a passenger train short of its specified spot made the Lahore Railway Station a no-go area for other trains for around three hours, while a freight wagon derailment near the cantonment station blocked the down track on Lahore-Raiwind section for another two hours during the last 24 hours.

A Lahore Division official of the Pakistan Railways told this reporter on Saturday that a wagon of the 30-coach Raiwind-bound freight train derailed soon after it left Mughalpura dry port. He said wagon No 16 re-railed twice before derailing near the cantonment station at around 1pm. No Guard was accompanying the train, he added.

The derailment cut the rods of three signal points, besides de-shaping many other shafts, as the driver could apply breaks after 150 metres or so, he added.

At the time of derailment, he said, Quetta-bound Jaffar Express was halted at the Lahore station, while all other Lahore-bound trains were behind their schedules owing to bad weather. “Otherwise the mess-up would have been immense,” the official said and added it took two hours or so to clear the track and the Jaffar Express left the Lahore station at 3.52pm instead of its scheduled time of 1.40pm.

He said the other glitch occurred when the parking of 43-Up (Buraq Express) short of platform No 2 turned all track circuits red at 11.30pm on Thursday, resulting in halting of all trains coming from Lalamusa junction to Lahore at Badami Bagh and other stations.

He said that for two hours and 50 minutes the commercial staff continued insisting that the train was halted at the right spot and it was the failure of the signals system.

The assistant signals engineer and block inspector were called who also seconded the assertion of their subordinates that the rake was not halted at the specified place, he added. “After confirming from the cabin man, the train was at last moved a few metres ahead at 1.20am and except for platform No 2 all outer signals turned green,” the official said.