Rail roko stir: 24 trains cancelled, passengers a harried lot in Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 22

As both Amritsar-Delhi and Amritsar-Tarn Taran routes were blocked by farmers, the railway authorities plied some trains on the Amritsar-Jammu railway line track.

Most of the group members were women and children. It’s a long journey and we will undergo tremendous difficulty if we do not get a train from Jalandhar, where we are headed to by road. Shila Buhir, a member of the group from Maharashtra

On this route, trains were plied from Amritsar to Qadian, Batala, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Kathua and Jammu. Officials of the Ferozepur division said in all, 128 trains suffered on account of the agitation. Of these, 35 mail/express and 24 passenger trains were cancelled and others were either diverted, short-terminated or short-originated.

At the local railway station, too, passengers faced harassment due to the cancellation of most trains. Among them was a group of tourists from Maharashtra. A tourist Ramakant said there were 55 persons in the group. After touring Jammu and Kashmir, they had come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. However, on returning to the station, they were shocked to find that the trains were not plying.

Shila Buhir, another member of the group, said: “Most of the group members were women and children. It’s a long journey and we will undergo tremendous difficulty if we do not get a train from Jalandhar, where we are headed to by road.”