Fog effect: Northern Railways cancels 16 trains plying through Ludhiana till Feb end

In view of foggy conditions, the Northern Railways has announced cancellation of as many as 16 trains on eight routes plying through Ludhiana junction till the end of February. This includes 12 long-route trains to and from stations in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

Up and down trains from Banmankhi-Amritsar, Amritsar-Jaynagar, Ajmer-Amritsar, Tata Nagar-Amritsar, Kolkata-Amritsar, Amritsar-Nangal dam, and Chandigarh-Amritsar, have been fully cancelled and the one from Darbhanga-Amritsar has been partially cancelled.

A railway official said, “As trains get delayed due to fog, railway authorities cancel the trains in advance to save passengers from inconvenience. Those who have purchased ticket can get refunds both online and offline.”

He said that several add-on devices, including tri-netra and fog pass, are being installed on rail engines to ensure that trains arrive on time even in dense fog.

Train cancellations leave passengers stranded

Passengers at Ludhiana railway station were left a harried lot on Sunday amid cancellation of several trains. In the absence of adequate seating space and waiting area, passengers were forced to stand for long hours and struggled to secure berths in trains.

At this time of the year, a large population of migrant workers who work at hosiery units head back to their hometowns.

“The train on which I had earlier decided to go to Gorakhpur was cancelled yesterday. Now, I will take whichever train is going towards Uttar Pradesh,” said Ram Bahadur, who works at a hosiery unit in Moti Nagar.

He said that as the season for hosiery goods is over, a lot of workers are heading back home, and the train cancellation has made travel difficult. He added that with each passing year, the number of trains with general coaches are becoming sparse.

Surinder Kumar, who is travelling to Sonipat said, “I missed the last train headed to Delhi as it was jam-packed. As the trains to various cities in UP and Bihar have been cancelled, a lot of passengers are heading to Delhi to make it to their destination.”

A number of passengers were also seen risking their safety and hanging by doors of moving trains.