Rail services delayed due to dense fog and low visibility: DCM Praveen Gaur Dwivedi

Ambala: Courtesy the thick layer of smog in the Delhi NCR region, 18 trains in the Ambala division have been cancelled. The thick layer of smog not only hampered the road traffic, it has delayed as many as 18 trains in the Ambala division with three that remained cancelled. The Senior DCM, Praveen Gaur Dwivedi, Ambala division held the low visibility responsible for the delay and cancellation of trains. She added that the railways were ensuring concrete measures so that no untoward incident took place due to fog. The high-end trains including the Shatabdi Express, Kamakhya Express and Hirakund Express were running late from the schedule and a delay of as many as 20 hours were witnessed on Thursday at the Ambala Cantonment railway station.

Senior DCM Praveen Gaur Dwivedi said, “Due to the thick layer of fog in the region, the Kamakhya Express was delayed by 20 hours, while the Hirakund Express was delayed by five hours.” The other trains that were plying late from the scheduled time included the Archana Express that was delayed by seven hours, Howrah Mail delayed by 10 hours and Amritsar Mail delayed by four hours. The Chattisgarh Express was late by eleven hours, while the Jammu-Delhi Shalimar Express and Lucknow-Chandigarh Sadhbhavna Express were running late by four hours. It was informed that three trains, including Jalandhar-New Delhi Super Express, Aam Amrapali Express and Karmabhoomi Expresswere cancelled due to the fog.

The railway officials said that if the conditions worsen in the coming days, then more trains could be cancelled. Meanwhile, passengers have been facing a lot of problems as well. One of them Mukesh Yadav, who had to board the Begampura Express to reach Varanasi, said, “I have been waiting for the train from Wednesday night but the train has not reached the railway station yet.”

Another passenger, Manmeet Soni, said that he had to go to Delhi but there were no signs of the train. The railway department initially had said that the train had been delayed by an hour but it has been four hours and he had been waiting. “The railways should improve their system to inform the passengers about delayed trains,” he added.