Suspension of trains irks passengers

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 18

Passengers and vendors at the railway station are annoyed with the Railways move to extend cancellation of trains from Amritsar to Haridwar, Dehradun and Chandigarh up till February 28. The railway authorities have cited foggy weather for cancellation of trains.

A frequent passenger and vigilant citizen ML Sharma has written to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in this regard. He said it was astonishing that the Railways extended stoppage of these trains till February 28. “In reality, the day temperature is rising with sunny afternoon these days,” he added.

Sharma in a communiqué to the Railway Minister stated: “The public wants to know the specific reason behind inconveniencing passengers, especially during the time when the weather is clear and there is no fog.”

Keeping in view the inclement weather conditions in Northern India, Railways cancelled as many as 22 trains, including some originating and touching the holy city, for a period of one month starting from December 17.

Majority of these trains including Jan Nayak, Jansewa, Amritsar Nangal Dam Express, which connect the city to Anandpur Sahib, Tata Moori, Bathinda-Jammu Tawi Express (up, down) and others resumed on February 15.

However, services of popular Dehradun Express, Amritsar-Haridwar Janshatabdi and Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast Express trains have remained suspended.

Another vigilant citizen, Ravinder Sultanwind said, “The cancellation of trains to Haridwar has hurt religious sentiments of the Hindu community as they have to travel there to immerse ashes in case of death in their families.” He said both trains to Haridwar (14631/14632 and 12053/12054) were cancelled.

A local resident Jaspreet Singh said, “The services of only train between Amritsar and Chandigarh (12241/12242) will remain suspended till February 28. It shows failure on part of the Railways in managing trains.”

Vendors at the railway station rued that they were incurring losses on account of low footfall after cancellation of so many trains. They said the Railways was charging high rent from them while their income remained static.