Daily Times

Passengers are still facing disruptions and delays caused by the derailment of freight train near Rahim Yar Khan two days ago.

Stranded passengers have faced water and food shortages during their disrupted journeys.

Today, many passengers at Rahim Yar Khan Railway station criticized Pakistan Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and the authorities operating under him for the poor arrangements at train stations.

They said while protesting against Sheikh Rasheed, Minister Railways that no relief was provided to passengers that had been stranded on platforms for over 20 hours.

Trains traveling towards Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta will face extended delays of between 48 to 72 hours.

According to a spokesperson for Pakistan Railways (PR), repair work is undergoing on 1525 feet track damaged by the overturned train.

The derailment has hit train operations badly and already caused the loss of millions of rupees in revenue.

Conflicting statements have been issued by PR officials in the wake of the incident.

One claimed full restoration of train operations but then another announcement said the disruption is likely to persist for two to three days.

According to PR officials, two rescue cranes from Rohri and Samasata reached the site of the derailment on Monday night and repair operations started.

The bulk of the wreckage is believed to have been cleared on Tuesday night, with new sections of track also laid during the repair efforts so far, the official stated.

In the aftermath of the derailment, PR has suspended three officials after conducting a preliminary report.

Qasim Zahoor, the deputy divisional superintendent for Sukkur, Sohail Zia, the permanent way inspector in Khanpur, and Amjad Shahzad, the head train examiner in Khanewal were observed committing negligence in their duties after the incident.