Fog hits rail, road traffic, commuters a  harried lot

The train traffic continued to be badly affected with several trains running half an hour to nearly 12 hours late, due to foggy conditions and rescheduling of trains, on Friday.

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As per the information obtained, trains including, Amb Andaura-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express (22447), was running late by nearly 1.30 hours, Daulatpur Chauk-New Delhi Janshatabdi Express (12058) reached its destination with over 2 hours of delay, Jammu Tawi-Ajmer (12414) was running nearly 9 hours late, Amritsar-New Delhi (12014) was running late by over 2.30 hours, Lucknow-Chandigarh Express (12231) by over 1 hour, CSMT-Amritsar Express (11057) was running late by over 3 hours, and Bhiwani-Kalka Express (14795) was late by 2 hours.

Similarly, Delhi-Pathankot Express (22429) was late by two hours, Ajmer-Jammu Tawi Express (12413) was running late by over 12 hours, Jainagar-Amritsar Shaheed Express (14673) was running late by 2.30 hours, Praygraj-Chandigarh Unchahar Express (14217) was running late by nearly 8 hours, Amritsar-Nanded Sachkhand Express (12716) was running late by over 7.30 hours, and Malwa Express (12919) was running late by 4 hours, Garib Rath Express (12203) was running late by 2.20 hours.

The rescheduling and delay of trains have become an ordeal for the passengers travelling in cold conditions. The long route trains running late have been affecting the short route trains because the capacity of running trains on tracks reduces drastically due to trains running behind their schedule and the trains are halted at non-stopping stations to get clear tracks and platforms at the stations.

The passengers who were not aware of how to track the train movement face a lot of inconvenience and had to brave the cold with family members.

Subey Singh, a passenger at Ambala Cantonment railway station, said, “Since I have no idea how to track the train movement, I have been waiting for my train with family and luggage for over two hours at the station. We depend on the announcements being made at the station. My train for Katra was scheduled to reach Ambala around 7.30 am, but now it is expected to reach after 11 am.

A railway official said fog affected the operations and trains were also rescheduled to ensure smooth operations. Regular announcements were being made at the railway stations for the passengers’ convenience and efforts were being made to ensure safe operations.

Meanwhile, the road traffic was also seen moving at a slow pace due to fog.

An official in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said, “The dense fog has also affected the traffic on the national highways. For the safety of the commuters, the NHAI has been ensuring white markings on the roads, proper placing of signages and pasting reflector tapes on the vehicles near toll plazas. The commuters are advised to drive cautiously during the foggy conditions and follow traffic norms.”