RAWALPINDI: Late arrival and departure of trains is a routine but late arrival of a freight train carrying diesel for Pakistan Railways’ Rawalpindi division from Karachi on Sunday forced the administration to buy 10,000 litres of fuel from the open market to continue operations.

Due to the shortage of fuel, many trains left for Lahore, Multan and Karachi about two hours late. On Sunday morning, the administration brought the issue into the notice of the headquarters and in response the authorities in Lahore allowed the local officials to purchase diesel from the open market as the freight train from Karachi would arrive in the city on Monday.

A railway official told Dawn on Sunday that the Pakistan Railways purchased diesel from Pakistan State Oil (PSO) in Karachi and supplied it to all the divisional headquarters.

He said due to some technical problems, the fuel for Rawalpindi division was not loaded into the freight wagon on time so the train left the Karachi on Saturday evening.

To meet the daily requirement, he said the railway authorities purchased 10,000 litres of diesel from a PSO depot at Sihala. He feared that the administration would have to buy more fuel from the open market if the train did not arrive on Monday.

He said total 19 trains operated from Rawalpindi to different parts of the country, including Quetta, Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Peshawar.

The locomotives of the railways have developed faults during the last three days.

A train from Lahore to Rawalpindi developed fault at Jhelum on Saturday. The engine of a train coming from Lahore on Sunday also broke down at Lalamusa. Khyber Mail arrived five hours late.

When contacted, Divisional Superintendent Syed Munawar Shah said the diesel was purchased from the open market to run the trains on Sunday.

He said the locomotives developed faults due to hot weather. He said the central diesel locomotive workshop had repaired 58 locomotives during the last six months and 20 more would be operational soon.—A Reporter