At least four people were killed and more than 30 others injured after the Rehman Baba Express derailed near Sher Shah Railway Station in Multan district of Pakistan's Punjab province on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, according to local media reports. The train was en route to Peshawar when the incident occurred.

What Happened at Sher Shah Station

Locopilot Rizwan Abbas said the train was travelling at 100 kilometres per hour when he suddenly felt a jolt as it passed through the Sher Shah station area. He applied the brakes and brought the train to a halt.

'When I got out of the locomotive and looked back, I saw that the passenger coaches had derailed and were lying off the tracks. It was horrible,' Abbas was quoted as saying by Pakistani daily Dawn.

Government Response and Inquiry

Pakistan's Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi confirmed the death of four passengers and announced that the Federal Government Inspector of Railways (FGIR) had been appointed as the inquiry officer to investigate the incident, according to Dawn. The exact cause of the derailment has not yet been officially determined.

A Pattern of Rail Accidents in Pakistan

The Multan derailment is part of a worrying pattern of railway failures across Pakistan over the past year, raising serious concerns about maintenance standards and systemic issues within Pakistan Railways (PR).

On 1 October, two passenger trains — the Shalimar Express and the Pakistan Express — narrowly avoided major disasters after derailing. In August, four carriages of the Awam Express, travelling from Peshawar to Karachi, derailed near Lodhran railway station, killing one person and injuring at least 24 passengers — including 16 men, four women, and three children, according to Lodhran Deputy Commissioner Lubna Nazir. In July, three coaches of the Jaffar Express derailed after a blast on the railway track near Shikarpur in Sindh, injuring one passenger and disrupting rail operations in the region.

Deep-Rooted Infrastructure Concerns

Critics and safety experts argue that recurring derailments reflect deep-rooted neglect in track maintenance, ageing rolling stock, and inadequate safety protocols within Pakistan Railways. The frequency of incidents — at least four significant derailments or near-misses within a three-month window — points to a systemic failure rather than isolated events. Analysts note that successive governments have pledged infrastructure upgrades, but implementation has reportedly lagged far behind stated targets.

With the official inquiry now underway, attention will focus on whether findings translate into enforceable corrective action, or whether the Rehman Baba Express derailment becomes another entry in a lengthening record of unaddressed rail safety failures.