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Farmers’ protest: Man unable to perform father’s last rites due to disrupted train schedules
The cancellations perhaps had the most gut-wrenching consequences for Dalbir Singh, a resident of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, whose bookings were cancelled thrice, due to which he could neither be there with his ailing father when he breathed his last nor was he able to perform his last rites
With railway schedules remaining disrupted for the last three days amid the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Jalandhar railway lines, many commuters have had to face a host of travails with at least 50 trains cancelled, 20 diverted and 10 short terminated.
The cancellations perhaps had the most gut-wrenching consequences for Dalbir Singh, a resident of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, whose bookings were cancelled thrice, due to which he could neither be there with his ailing father when he breathed his last nor was he able to perform his last rites.
Dalbir, who works at a food joint in Jammu and Kashmir, immediately boarded a roadways bus with his relatives upon learning that his father was critically ill. However, they were stuck in a massive traffic jam amid the farmer protests at a highway near Jalandhar.
They managed to reach the Ludhiana railway station, hoping to board a train, but have been stranded there since Friday. “My father passed away waiting for me. I have been running from pillar to post for the last three days, but to no avail. Our reservations were cancelled three times and we cannot afford to board a private bus due to the steep fares,” he said.
When he approached the railways staff, Dalbir alleged that he was rudely brushed off.
Dalbir is not alone. Dheeraj, a resident of Nirwana, Rajasthan, came to Ludhiana for Raksha Bandhan, says, “I had booked a Kota special train that was scheduled to depart at 5:50am on August 23, but it has been cancelled. I have come to the station for a refund. I am planning to take an alternative means of transport.”
Vinay of Bhawani Mandi, Rajasthan, was also in the same boat as his train, the Jamnagar special scheduled for 4pm on Sunday was cancelled. “I have to report to work on Monday, but I’m stuck. I might have to take an alternative mode of travel,” says Vinay.
Primarily, trains running towards Amritsar and Katra were affected. Other than cancellation and diversion of routes, a few trains also got delayed for hours including the Paschim Express which plies on Amritsar-New Delhi route.
Shiv Salwan, a Ludhiana resident said that he had to reschedule his meeting in Delhi as Paschim Express which was scheduled to reach Ludhiana station at 10:20 am arrived at 1:25 pm. Among the trains that have been cancelled include the Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi, the Vande Bharat express which runs on the New Delhi to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra route, the Haridwar-Amritsar Jan Shatabdi and Amritsar-Hazur Sahib Nanded special train.
Routes of 10 trains, which were to run on Monday, have been diverted and around 25 trains have been short terminated and short originated.
Notably, till the filing of this report, the railway had issued a refund of ₹1.2 lakh to passengers. A senior railway official said that the refund was issued on the spot at the three railway windows.
Disgruntled passengers take to Twitter
Disgruntled passengers whose trains were either cancelled or halted bombarded the Firozpur division of Northern Railways with queries and complaints.
A Twitter user, Bhism Narayan Sharma, mentioned his Passenger Name Record (PNR) number and raised the issue of absence of catering services in his train, which had been diverted to another route.
“I don’t know where we are headed to, there is no on-board catering, neither is the train at any station. I do know when we will reach our destination and when we will get food”, read his tweet.
The Northern Railways responded to the query saying the matter had been forwarded to the Ferozepur divisional railway manager.Many others tweeted their queries as well.
