The district administration has suspended the operation of the famous horse train from Gangapur to Bachiana for repair and rehabilitation.
The three-kilometre track was laid by Sir Ganga Ram some 118 years ago as a gift for his daughter.
The train was inaugurated in 1903 and carried 15 people for a single journey.
The unique service was suspended in 1993 when rails from the track were stolen.
The horse train service remained suspended thereafter for about 14 years. Later, in 2007, a union council nazim and then district coordination officer Saeed Iqbal Wahla supervised repairs and re-launched the service. Rs5.6 million was spent on rehabilitation of the train tracks.
The fare for the service was set at Rs5.
However, a few years later, the track again developed cracks and the horse-train faced a number of accidents, injuring nearly three dozen people. Soon, travellers stopped using the train for fear of accidents. Two weeks ago, the service was suspended again for repair.
Jaranwala Assistant Commissioner Zaheer Jappa told The Express Tribune that the track was in bad shape due to wear-and-tear.
He said Pakistan Railway had been contacted and steps were being taken to restore the service as soon as possible.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2014.
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