LAHORE, Dec 27: Rail and air traffic between major cities was suspended on Thursday after violence broke out in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar.

All PIA flights from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar were rescheduled till 6am on Friday.

“Most crew members and other staff could not reach airports, necessitating the rescheduling of flights,” a PIA spokesperson said while advising passengers to check the flight schedule before coming to the airport.

Officials at the railway headquarters in Lahore said that the uprooting of a rail track by a violent mob near Rawalpindi had made it impossible to run trains to and from Rawalpindi and Peshawar.

Similarly, some trains had been set on fire in some areas of Sindh, forcing the PR Karachi Division authorities to suspend the rail service. “The situation in Lahore and Quetta is also not favourable to run trains from there,” a railway officer said. He urged travellers to check the departure time of their respective trains from railways’ inquiry number 117.

Meanwhile, security arrangements at railway stations and in trains have been beefed up in the wake of the Liaquat Bagh tragedy in Rawalpindi.