Block: Rail traffic goes haywire

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, July 18

With barely a day before mega traffic block at Amritsar from July 19 to August 1 for electronic interlocking work, rail traffic in the region was derailed. While many long-route trains were either cancelled or rescheduled for late departure, those originating from or terminating at Amritsar were worst affected.

Two pairs of intercity express trains – 12459/60 New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi and 14681/82 New Delhi-Jalandhar-New Delhi (both via Ludhiana), were rescheduled by 6.15 hrs to 8.20 hrs. As a result a large number of Delhi-bound passengers had a harrowing time.

According to railway officials, 12356 Jammu Tawi-Rajendra Nagar Patna Archana Express and the pair of 13005/06 Howrah-Amritsar-Howrah Mail trains were cancelled for the day.

In addition to two pairs of intercity express trains, among other trains rescheduled for late departure were 14604 Amritsar-Saharsa Jansadharan Weekly Express (3.20 hrs), 14673 Jaynanagr-Amritsar Shaheed Express (4 hrs) and 15210 Amritsar-Saharsa Jansewa Express (3.55 hrs).

Trains running late

• 15651 Guwahati-Jammu Lohit Express 12.10 hrs
• 14682 Jalandhar-New Delhi Intercity Express 9.10 hrs
• 12460 Amritsar-New Delhi Intercity Express 7.30 hrs
• 12459 New Delhi-Amritsar Intercity Express 7.15 hrs
• 14681 New Delhi-Jalandhar Intercity Express 7.30 hrs
• 22431 Allahabad-Udhampur Superfast Express 3.15 hrs
• 15707 Katihar-Amritsar Amrapali Express 3.30 hrs
• 11057 CST (Mumbai)-Amritsar Dadar Express 3.15 hrs
• 12237 Varanasi-Jammu Tawi Begumpura Express 3.05 hrs