Passengers harassed as 42 trains cancelled

Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 25

Apprehending violence following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Raheem, the railways cancelled 16 pairs of Mail/Express and Shatabdi trains, besides 26 other trains passing through Ludhiana for a day causing inconvenience to commuters.

Passengers, who had booked their tickets in advance, were left to fend for themselves. The decision to cancel such a large number of trains bound for New Delhi, Jammu, Amritsar and Mata Vaishno Devi among others was taken at the eleventh hour. No prior notice was circulated in this connection. As a result, a large number of passengers learnt about cancellation of trains after their arrival at the railway station.

Rail traffic on the Amritsar-Ludhiana-New Delhi line was worst affected as both pairs of morning and evening trains were cancelled, along with New Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi Express and Shan-e-Punjab trains. The New Delhi-Jalandhar Intercity Express 14681 and New Delhi-Amritsar Intercity Express 12459 were short terminated at Ambala and Sonepat, respectively.

Four others trains were rescheduled by three to five hours. Passengers made a beeline at the inquiry counter of the railway station to know whether some alternate trains were available for their destination. A vast majority of commuters deferred their travel plans opting not to use road transport. A number of Delhi-bound passengers were left in a lurch as no other train was available till the late afternoon. Railway officials said as many as 50 pairs of Mail/Express and Shatabdi trains and another 20 pairs of passenger trains passed through Ludhiana every day. RK Sharma, Station Superintendent, said, “Today, there were not more than 20 pairs of Mail/Express and Passenger trains that passed from the city.”

Cancelled trains

• 11078 Jammu-Pune Jhelum Express 
• 12013 New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express
• 12029/30 New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi Express
• 12037 New Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi Express
• 12237/38 Jammu-Varanasi-Jammu Begumpura Express
• 12242/43 and 12411/12 Chandigarh-Amritsar-Chandigarh Intercity Express
• 12413/14 Jammu-Ajmer-Jammu Pooja Express
• 12408 Amritsar-New Jalpaiguri Karambhoomi Express
• 12425/26 Jammu-New Delhi-Jammu Rajdhani Express
• 12445/46 New Delhi-Katra Uttar Sampark Kranti Express
• 12471/72 Bandra Terminus-Katra-Bandra Terminus Swaraj Express
• 12497/98 New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi Shane-Punjab
• 12904 Amritsar-Mumbai Golden Temple Mail
• 12919/20 Indore-Katra-Indore Malwa Express
• 13006 Amritsar-Howrah Mail
• 13050 Amritsar-Howrah Express
• 13152 Amritsar-Sealdah Express
• 13308 Firozepur-Dhanbad Ganga Sutlej Express
• 14011/12 Delhi-Hoshiarpur-Delhi Express
• 14033/34 Delhi-Katra-Delhi Express
• 14502/03 Jammu-Bathinda Express
• 14505 Amritsar-Nangal Dam Express
• 14610 Katra-Rishikesh Hemkunt Express
• 14613/14 Firozepur-Chandigarh-Firozepur Express
• 14630 Firozepur-Ludhiana Express
• 14630 Amritsar-Dehradun Express
• 14645/46 Delhi-Jammu-Delhi Shalimar Express
• 14674 Amritsar-Jaynanagar Shaheed Express
• 15211/12 Darbhanga-Amritsar-Jananayak Express

Short-terminated trains

• 14681 New Delhi-Jalandhar Intercity Express at Ambala
• 12459 New Delhi Amritsar Intercity Exppress at Sonepat.

Trains rescheduled

• 12379 Sealdah-Amritsar Express (5.20 hrs)
• 13049 Howrah-Amritsar Express (5 hrs)
• 14649 Jaynagar-Amritsar Saryu-Yamuna Express (3hrs)
• 18101Tatanagar-Amritsar Express (4 hrs)