Karachi Express

Karachi Express

Overview
Service type	Express
Current operator(s)	Pakistan Railways
Website	www.pakrail.com/
Route
Start	Karachi Cantt
Stops	8
End	Lahore Jn
Distance travelled	1,260 kilometres (780 mi)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	15 UP (Karachi -> Lahore), 16 DN (Lahore -> Karachi)
On-board services
Class(es)	Economy, AC Business and AC Sleeper
Seating arrangements	Available
Sleeping arrangements	Available
Catering facilities	Available
Baggage facilities	Available
Technical
Track gauge	Broad Gauge
Route map Karachi Express route map

Karachi Express (Urdu: کراچی ایکسپریس ‎) is a daily express train between Karachi and Lahore in Pakistan. The train named after Karachi, The largest city of Pakistan. It is one of the oldest, fastest and popular trains of Pakistan.

Karachi Express was started in late 1940s between Karachi and Peshawar after that its route was shorted Karachi to Lahore. In 1999 Pakistan Railways started to run it as full air conditioned non stop train. It had only one technical stop at Khanpur. After few year Economy class coaches and more stops were added to it.^[1]

During the PPP government in Pakistan, 2008-2013, the train service was almost completely finished due to shortage of power vans and locomotives. During much of 2012, the train was only running with only economy class coaches and coupled with Millat Express from Khanewal onwards to Karachi.

On 16 May 2013, the train was refurbished and a new rake was arranged that included 10 Economy, 3 AC Business and 1 AC Sleeper class coaches. The route of the train was also changed so that now the train is running between Karachi and Lahore via Lodhran-Multan-Khanewal section instead of the Lodhran-Jahanian-Khanewal section. The train still covers the 1,225 kilometres (761 mi) distance between Karachi and Lahore in 18 hours.^[2]

Route

Karachi to Lahore via Hyderabad, Rohri, Multan and Sahiwal

Train stops

• Karachi Cantt
• Hyderabad Jn
• Nawabshah
• Rohri Jn
• Bahawalpur
• Multan Cantt
• Khanewal Jn
• Sahiwal
• Raiwind Jn
• Lahore Jn ^[3]

Accidents

• Ghotki train crash
  • In its worst accident three passenger trains collided on 13 July 2005, derailing 13 carriages and leaving at least 120 dead. The Karachi Express ran into the back of the Quetta Express while it was stopped at a station near Ghotki, and the Tezgam travelling in the opposite direction hit several of the derailed carriages. According to officials, the conductor of the Karachi Express misread a signal.^[4]

• Mehrabpur train derailment
  • On 19 December 2007, Karachi Express derailed near the town of Mehrabpur in the Sindh province of Pakistan. At around 2:25 a.m. local time, fourteen of the train's sixteen carriages left the tracks, some being mangled by the crash, others simply sliding down an embankment into the water. Sabotage and terrorism were ruled out as the reason for the crash, with officials believing a faulty track was the cause of the derailment.

References

1. IRFCA: Pakistan Railway Train Names Author: Owais Mughal. Retrieved on 7 April 2013
2. Nation Newspaper, Karachi Express Revived, Retrieved on 17 May 2013
3. Nation Newspaper, Karachi Express Revived, Retrieved on 17 May 2013
4. "World's worst rail disasters". BBC. 2005-07-13. Retrieved 7 August 2013.