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Ludhiana: Commuters stranded as farmers’ protest affect train services
Hundreds were stranded at the Ludhiana railway station during the day as there was no clarity as to what train may be affected or may even get cancelled.
The Ludhiana railway station, the biggest in the Ferozepur division, on Thursday witnessed scenes of confusion as passengers thronged the enquiry counters after 33 trains were either cancelled or short-terminated due to the protesters blocking the tracks in support of the ongoing farmers’ protest.
Around 1,000 farmers protested from 12 pm to 4 pm at Gagru-Talwandi, Amritsar-Manawala, Ghal Kalan, Jagraon, Guru Harsahai, Fazila, and Malsian Shahkht block sections, affecting the movement of trains.
According to officials at the enquiry counter at the Ludhiana railway station, there were no trains to Amritsar and Ambala via the regular routes, forcing many headed to the stations to wait until the protest ended or look for some other mode of transport.
Hundreds were stranded at the Ludhiana railway station during the day as there was no clarity as to what train may be affected or may even get cancelled.
Sachin Kashyap, 24, who was going back to his house in Lucknow due to a medical emergency said, “The next available train is at 6:30 pm.”
Mohammad Ashraf Dar, a Kashmiri fruit merchant, said, “I came here in the morning but they say that the trains coming are running late as they were using the alternate route.”
Senior divisional commercial manager, Ferozepur, Shubham Kumar, said, “We, in co-ordination with the local administration and law and order agencies are trying to engage these protesters. At times we are able to persuade them and at times we aren’t. This is very unpredictable.”
“We are in touch with the state administration to make sure that the railway is affected as less as possible,” he added.
