Shatabdis among six trains to not run from Jan 1

With fog hitting rail and road traffic in the region, the Northern Railway has decided not to run six trains from January 1 to February 15, 2015. Among these trains are the popular Shatabdi trains that mainly connect Amritsar and Ludhiana to New Delhi.

Ludhiana station superintendent RK Sharma said, "These trains will not run starting January 1 in view of the dense fog. Poor visibility caused due to fog makes it difficult to run trains on schedule. It's nature at play, and there is only so much that we can do." Trains delayed for second day

Meanwhile, dense fog continued on Friday, throwing rail traffic out of gear. Some trains were delayed by over 20 hours, leaving passengers stranded in chilly weather. A railway official said delay of train for one day resulted in delay the next day as well as the same train has to return to its point of origin.

The Saryu Yamuna Express was delayed by 20 hours, while Amarnath Express was eight hours late. Dadar Express and Sachkhand Express were running five hours late each, while Jansewa Express and Malwa Express were around three hours late. Garib Rath was delayed by two hours.

Cancelled trains

12043/44 Moga Shatabdi

12037/38 Ludhiana Shatabdi

14682/81 Jalandhar New Delhi Superfast

15210/11 Jansewa Exp

19611/12 Ajmer-Asr Exp (via Ferozepur)

19613/14 Ajmer-Asr Exp (via Dhuri)

Winter break spurs long waiting lists

Hordes of people hoping to vacation during Christmas and New Year holidays have left major trains running packed. The long waiting lists are reflected in the long queues of people trying to find a confirmed ticket at the reservation centre.

It is pertinent to mention that a ticket booked online if not confirmed stands cancelled, and the person can't board the train. But even if a ticket taken from a booking window is not confirmed, the person can travel on a waiting ticket.

Suresh Singh, a resident of BRS Nagar, said, "I plan to visit my native land, Lucknow, during this winter break. But as the waiting list online was too long, I thought it better to get a ticket from the booking window."

Status of waiting in various trains as on December 20 and 25

Train Waiting on Dec 20 Dec 25
Jhelum Exp 192 219
Sachkhand Exp 185 414
Paschim Express 174 166
Saryu Yumna Exp 162
Swaraj Exp 140 148