The derailment of a passenger train on Tuesday which led to minor injuries to the driver and an assistant could have been caused by excessive speed, the head of Saudi Railways has suggested. “Investigations will be looking into the role of the train driver and his assistant and will verify the speed of the locomotive as it was passing through what is an undulating region,” said railways chief Abdul Aziz Al-Huqail. “We have equipment to check whether the speed at the time of the derailing was within regulations.” The incident, involving Passenger Train 6 which had 200 persons on board, 14 of them railway staff, is still being investigated, Al-Huqail said. The company in charge of track maintenance will also be summoned by investigators. The train was traveling from Riyadh to the Eastern Province and derailed approximately 80 kilometers outside of Riyadh. The front engine car and three of its carriages came off the tracks. In mid-December two freight trains collided at the approach to Haradh Station when a signal error guided one of them on to the wrong tracks, leading to a fire in a front carriage and the driver of one locomotive and another train official suffering minor injuries. The Riyadh to Al-Ahsa railway line is scheduled to reopen today Friday following its closure due to Tuesday's derailing.
