LAHORE: The Rawal Express, a passenger train travelling from Rawalpindi to Lahore, derailed at the Kala Gujran Railway Station near Jhelum. No loss of life occurred in the accident.
According to railway sources, the Rawal Express had departed from Rawalpindi for Lahore at 12:30 in the night. When the train reached Kala Gujran Station near Jhelum, it met with the accident due to brake failure.
According to railway officials, the train’s engine and three bogies were affected as a result of the accident. However, no report was received of any passenger being injured or killed.
The absence of casualties in a derailment involving the locomotive and three carriages is a significant outcome. Derailments at low speed, or where the affected coaches remain broadly upright and coupled, typically produce far less severe consequences than incidents at line speed on open track or where carriages overturn.
Railway sources said that following the accident, the relevant staff began assessing the situation, while steps are being taken for the restoration of the affected train and for reopening the rail track for normal operations.
Track restoration after a derailment involves lifting the affected rolling stock back onto the rails using cranes or re-railing equipment, inspecting the permanent way for damage to rails, sleepers and fastenings, and certifying the section as safe before traffic resumes.
Train services are likely to be affected from their normal schedule because of the accident. However, no further details were made public by railway officials.
The Rawalpindi–Lahore corridor forms part of Pakistan Railways’ Main Line 1, the country’s principal north–south rail artery running from Karachi through Lahore and Rawalpindi to Peshawar. It carries the heaviest concentration of passenger and freight traffic on the network, meaning that any single-line blockage between Jhelum and Lalamusa produces cascading delays across multiple services.
The identification of brake failure as the cause directs attention to rolling stock maintenance. Passenger coaches on Pakistan Railways operate on air brake systems, in which brake application depends on maintaining and releasing pressure through a continuous pipe running the length of the train. Failures can arise from compressor problems, leaks in the brake pipe, defective distributor valves or worn brake blocks.
Pakistan Railways has faced sustained scrutiny over the age of its coaching stock and the adequacy of periodic overhaul schedules. Coaches are subject to scheduled maintenance at intervals determined by mileage and time, with major overhauls carried out at central workshops. Where overhaul cycles are extended because of budgetary constraints or workshop capacity, the interval between inspections lengthens and the risk of in-service failure rises correspondingly.
Railway accidents in Pakistan are ordinarily followed by a departmental inquiry conducted by senior officers, examining the mechanical condition of the rolling stock, the state of the track at the point of derailment, the actions of the driving and guard crew, and compliance with operating rules. No details of any such inquiry into the Kala Gujran incident had been made public at the time of reporting.
The incident occurred in the early hours, a period when passenger loads on overnight services from Rawalpindi are typically substantial.
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