Ludhiana | 113 trains cancelled as farmers lay siege to tracks

Protesting under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KMSC), farmers have been occupying sections of railway tracks in Amritsar; Jalandhar, Tanda, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur for a week, which has led to the cancellation of at least 100 trains everyday.

Farmers seeking loan waiver continued to block railway tracks for the seventh consecutive day, leading to cancellation of 113 trains from the Ferozepur division on Sunday.

Though the Northern Railways’ has repeatedly requested passengers to check the status of the trains before heading to the station, passengers continued to pour into the station, only to return disappointed. (HT File)

Protesting under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KMSC), farmers have been occupying sections of railway tracks in Amritsar; Jalandhar, Tanda, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur for a week, which has led to the cancellation of at least 100 trains everyday.

Apart from the cancellations, 35 trains were short terminated and 32 were short originated. One of the disappointed passengers, Kavita Arora of Delhi, said, “I was visiting Ludhiana to meet an ailing relative. I had booked my return ticket for December 27, but was told the my train had been cancelled on Saturday evening, leaving me in a lurch.”

Shiv Salwan of Nehru Nagar, Model Town, had to book a cab to reach Ludhiana from Amritsar due to the non availability of trains. “I landed at the Amritsar airport from Guwahati. Since there were no trains from Amritsar to Ludhiana, I had to book a cab, which cost a pretty penny. The regular protests are burning a hole through the common man’s pockets,” said Salwan.

Though the Northern Railways’ has repeatedly requested passengers to check the status of the trains before heading to the station, passengers continued to pour into the station, only to return disappointed.

Meanwhile, security at the railway station was beefed up after the Ludhiana Court Complex blast.