Tracks near Sirhind blocked, trains chug in late

LUDHIANA: Rail traffic on New Delhi-Amritsar route remained affected on Monday as the more than twenty long-route trains chugged in late by several hours at Ludhiana railway station, which irked the passengers who kept waiting on different platforms of the station on Friday.
One of the major reason behind the disruption in the rail traffic was blockage in railway tracks near Sirhind railway station —more than 70km from Ludhiana— during morning hours by a group of people to mark their agitation against the worldwide release of the Nanak Shah Fakir, a film based on the principals of Sikh religion.
The trains coming from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Kolkata side were worst affected as they reached at least five to six hours late.
Inquiry officials at the station said, 15210 Jansewa Express from Saharsa to Amritsar arrived more than 25 hours after its scheduled time. It reached the station around 3pm on Friday, instead of arriving at 2pm on Thursday.
Another train, 12331 Himgiri Express running from Howrah to Amritsar, was delayed by more than 15 hours and reached the station at 12.45pm on Friday, instead of arriving at 8pm the previous night.
The train, 18101 Tata Muri Express from Tata Nagar to Jammu Tawi, arrived at the platform, 8 hours 45 minutes after its scheduled time. It was to arrive at 5.15am instead of which it reached the city station at 1.25PM,” said inquiry officer.
Avadh Assam Express, delayed by 5 hours 30 minutes, arrived at 11am instead of its scheduled arrival at 7am. Lohit express, delayed by 6 hours 15 minutes, reached station at 1.10pm instead of 7.30am on Friday.
Divisional operating manager at Ludhiana railway station Ashok Salaria said, “There is a huge rush in long-route trains coming mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar-side becuase of the ongoing marriage season. This leads to disruption railway traffic and delay in their arrival. Railway is putting in their best efforts to reduce the suffering of the passengers.”
Passengers have remained at the receiving end even after the foggy weather conditions have disappeared. Rajinder Singh, a local traveller said, railway has not adopted any latest technology to counter the suffering of passengers due to delay in arrival of most of trains. “They should take immediate steps because it will be difficult for the passengers to wait in the open in the upcoming summer days.