LAHORE, Jan 4: Hundreds of thousands of train passengers faced hours-long agony on Friday due to the suspension of train movements following the derailment of an oil-carrier train near Liaquatpur.

Rail traffic suspended since morning was restored at midnight. The derailment brought train operations on the section to a 100-per cent halt for more than 12 hours. It also damaged the signal system which affected the overall train operation already disturbed by riots following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on Dec 27.

Even though Pakistan Railways officials claim that the tracks had been cleared soon after the derailment, several passengers penned up in the Karachi-to-Peshawar Khyber Mail Express called Dawn offices at 11 pm, complaining that the train had been stopped at Feroza, a small town, for more than eight hours. Khalid Shakir, a passenger, said the train had left Karachi for Peshawar 25 hours ago.

He said that there were no basic amenities like water and food available at the station while darkness and freezing temperatures had left hundreds of the passengers helpless.

The other trains affected were: Tezgam Express, Millat Express and Karakorm Express and several others which were stopped at different stations.