Pakistan Railways has finalized its inquiry into two major train accidents from March 2026, attributing them to human error and technical failures. Departmental action has been initiated against nine employees: six held responsible for the Shalimar Express collision (including a station master and head train examiner) and three for the Tezgam Express derailment.
March train crash inquiry faults 9 employees; crossings and tracks blamed for most mishaps
ISLAMABAD, Jul 06 (APP): Pakistan Railways has finalized its inquiry into two major train accidents from March 2026, attributing them to human error and technical failures. Departmental action has been initiated against nine employees: six held responsible for the Shalimar Express collision (including a station master and head train examiner) and three for the Tezgam Express derailment.
According to an official report presented to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways, out of 135 train accidents recorded in a year, 35% occurred at unmanned crossings, while 34 incidents were caused by defective tracks.
The probe revealed that the collision between the Shalimar Express and a container freight train at Mehrabpur was caused by gross driver negligence. The driver overshot a stop signal and failed to brake in time, ramming into a stationary cargo train on the loop line. The crash killed one railway employee and derailed the locomotive, two passenger coaches, and three freight wagons.Authorities directly blamed driver Fayyaz Muhammad, assistant driver Asif Saeed, senior train examiners Asif Hussain and Waliullah Khan, and head train examiner Imran Nisar, while Station Master Asadullah was held indirectly responsible.
The second major accident, involving the Tezgam Express on the Lodhran-Bahawalpur section, resulted from negligent technical monitoring. A technical fault in the dining car’s front trolley caused eight coaches to derail, blocking both tracks and injuring multiple passengers.For fitness-monitoring lapses, disciplinary action has been launched against TXR Lahore Saqib Ghafoor and TXR Multan Minhas Anwar for direct negligence, and Head TXR
Secretary Pakistan Railways Mazhar Ali Shah briefed the committee that while 35,000 to 38,000 trains run annually maintaining a low overall accident rate of 0.02% a critical 35% of mishaps happen at unmanned crossings. He noted that trains operate between 65 to 110 km/h, and the administration is maintaining infrastructure using existing workforce despite limited resources.
Consolidated annual data showed that defective tracks were the leading cause of accidents with 34 incidents, followed closely by staff negligence (32), rolling stock defects (30), sabotage (10), and natural disasters. The committee was assured that emergency measures are underway to curb these occurrences.
