Storm effect: Trains delayed; panic among passengers

LUCKNOW: Scores of trains from Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan arrived up to 15 hours behind their schedule in Lucknow on Tuesday due to a thunderstorm in Delhi and adjoining areas.
Besides, following reports of expected dust storms in parts of the country, passengers cancelled tickets for journey to these places. According to railway officials, more than 1,000 tickets were cancelled between Monday night and Tuesday evening.
On Monday, Northern Railway (NR) and North Eastern Railway (NER) received an alert from the meteorological department about a storm in Delhi around 10pm. As precaution, both zones delayed departures of some trains from Delhi. Those from Haryana and Rajasthan were stopped midway.
The storm hit Delhi around 10.30pm on Monday night and its impact lasted till 12.30am. NR and NER resumed operations by 1am.
As a result, some trains arrived up to 15 hours late in Lucknow on Tuesday.
The delays included Sadhbhawna Express (15 hours), Poorabiya Express (14 hours), Saryu Yamuna Express (15 hours), Ganga-Sutlej Express (9 hours), Marudhar Express (8 hours), Amritsar-Howrah Express (7 hours) and Neelanchal Express (7 hours).
According to divisional railway manager (DRM) NER Vijaylaxmi Kaushik, railways took the step for safety of passengers. Meanwhile, panicked passengers cancelled their tickets to areas expecting storms.
According to NR DRM Satish Kumar, around 1,000 tickets to Delhi, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Ambala, Jaipur, Udaipur and Moradabad have been cancelled.
The cancelled tickets were of Marudhar Express, Avadh Assam Express, Poorabiya Express, Patna-Kota Express, New Delhi AC Express and Lucknow Mail.