QUETTA: Pakistan Railways announced the restoration of train services between Quetta and Peshawar from Oct 11 after a suspension of more than a month and a half.

An official notification issued by Pakistan Rail­w­ays stated that the 39-up/40-down Jaffar Express, which operates between Quetta and Peshawar Cantt, will resume its service from Oct 11, according to the summer timetable.

Train services were suspended across the country on Aug 26 after a key railway bridge between Kolpur and Mach was destroyed in a blast carried out by the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) during the night of Aug 25 and 26. The blast was part of multiple coordinated attacks carried out that night by dozens of armed militants from the outlawed group in Las­be­­la, Musakhail, Kachi, Kalat and Mastung districts.

Following the destruction of the railway bridge, Pakistan Railways hal-ted all incoming and outgoing passenger and goods train services from Quetta to Karachi, Lahore and Pes­hawar.

Railway officials said work on reconstructing the bridge was still underway. “The completion of the new railway bridge will take some time,” a senior official told Dawn, adding that the bridge is expected to be ready by Oct 10. “A trial run will be conducted after the railway track is laid on the newly constructed bridge, which is expected next week,” the official added. Currently, no passenger or goods train services are operational between Quet­­ta and the rest of the country.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2024