Bahauddin Zakaria Express

Bahauddin Zakaria Express

Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
First service	1973
Current operator(s)	Pakistan Railways
Route
Start	Karachi City
Stops	19
End	Multan Cantonment
Distance travelled	929 kilometres (577 mi)
Average journey time	16 hours, 5 minutes
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	25UP (Karachi→Multan) 26DN (Multan→Karachi)
On-board services
Class(es)	AC Business Economy
Sleeping arrangements	Available
Catering facilities	Available
Technical
Track gauge	1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Track owner(s)	Pakistan Railways
Route map Bahauddin Zakaria Express route map

Bahauddin Zakaria Express (Urdu: بهاءالدین زکریا ایکسپریس‎) is a passenger train operated daily by Pakistan Railways between Karachi and Multan.^[1] The trip takes approximately 16 hours and 5 minutes to cover a published distance of 929 kilometres (577 mi), traveling along a stretch of the Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line. The train named after Abu Muhammad Bahauddin Zakariya, a famous Sufi saint of the Suhrawardiyya order who lived in Multan between 1171-1262.^[2]

Route

• Karachi City–Multan Cantonment via Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line

Station stops

• Karachi City
• Karachi Cantonment
• Landhi Junction
• Jungshahi
• Kotri Junction
• Hyderabad Junction
• Tando Adam Junction
• Shahdadpur
• Nawabshah
• Daur
• Mahrabpur Junction
• Rohri Junction
• Sadiqabad
• Rahim Yar Khan
• Khanpur Junction
• Liaquatpur
• Dera Nawab Sahib
• Samasata Junction
• Bahawalpur
• Lodhran Junction
• Shujabad
• Multan Cantonment ^[3]

Equipment

The train AC Business class and economy accommodation.

Incidents

• 1990 Sukkur rail disaster: On 4 January 1990, the Bahaudddin Zakaria Express was on a 560-mile (900 km) overnight run from Multan to Karachi. Near Sangi village outside of Sukkur, Sindh the tracks were incorrectly set and sent the train hurdling into a siding where it collided with an empty 67-car freight train at a speed of at least 55 mph, killing 307 people. It remains one of the worst rail disasters in Pakistan Railways history.^[4]

• 2016 Landhi rail accident: 22 people were killed and more than 65 injured when the Bahauddin Zakaria Express collided with the Fareed Express at Juma Goth Train station situated in Landhi, Karachi on the morning of 3 November 2016.^[5][6]

References

1. IRFCA: Pakistan Railway Train Names Author: Owais Mughal, Retrieved on 1 July 2013
2. "IRFCA: Pakistan Railway Train Names". Owais Mughal. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
3. Pakistan Railways official website, Bahauddin Zakaria Express Timings, Retrieved on 6 April 2013
4. "Chronology of world train disasters". The Guardian. London. 1999-08-02.
5. Asim Khan and Raza Jaferri (November 3, 2016). "22 killed as trains collide near Karachi's Landhi Railway Station". Dawn News. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
6. Zubair Ashraf (November 3, 2016). "21 dead as trains collide near Karachi's Landhi Railway Station". The Express Tribune. Retrieved November 3, 2016.