Fog on mind, Railways cancels 20 trains

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 1

In the New Year, check out before you plan your trip by train from the city. Anticipating foggy conditions, the Northern Railway, in an unprecedented move, has cancelled at least 10 pairs of trains, including three pairs of the Shatabdi Express. Keeping passenger convenience in mind, the trains have been cancelled twice a week.

Resultantly, 32 trains plying from the Chandigarh railway station, having a footfall of around 17,000 passengers per day, will be affected from January and March.

The worst affected will be those travelling by the Shatabdi Express, which carries around 6,000 passengers on two-way trips on a daily basis between Chandigarh and Delhi.

Ambala Divisional Railway  Manager Dinesh Kumar said the project regarding installation of modern equipment for signalling during fog was awaiting clearance from the Railway Ministry. Keeping in view foggy weather conditions, Ambala Division had taken various measures, he said.

In the schedule pertaining to the cancellation of 20 trains released today, eight trains plying from the city will be cancelled twice a week for three months from January to March.

The trains have been cancelled as records of last year have revealed that these were delayed by up to 18 hours during foggy conditions in the region.

Fog devices installed

Fog-safe devices have been installed at various places, which are attached with the GPRS, through which the driver will get an alert beep 800 metres before the signal. Special patrolling staff have been deployed on various stretches, who will alert the driver in case of dense fog. 

Modern signalling equipment

Records of the Railways reveal that of the total 64,000-km tracks, just 5 km have modern equipment for signalling during fog. Such signals are required after every kilometre during dense fog. The Railways plans to spend around Rs 1.1 lakh crore on installing modern signal mechanism and other measures for safety.