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Ludhiana: Passengers stranded at railway station as farmers block tracks
According to the office of the divisional railway manager, Ferozepur division, as many as nine trains were cancelled across the region; besides, 15 other trains were short terminated/originated and over 22 were rescheduled due to the protest
Strap: As many as nine trains were cancelled, 15 were short terminated and 22 rescheduled
Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the Ludhiana railway station on Sunday after members of various farmer unions blocked tracks at various locations on Sunday for four hours.
The members of farmer unions gathered on railway tracks at 12 pm and blocked the traffic.
According to the office of the divisional railway manager, Ferozepur division, as many as nine trains were cancelled across the region. Besides, 15 other trains were short terminated/originated and over 22 were rescheduled due to the protest.
One of the prominent trains, Swarna Shatabdi Express (12030), was rescheduled to run approximately three hours late from its original schedule.
The protest, led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, aimed to press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee of the minimum support price.
Different groups of farmers staged protests by sitting on railway tracks at various locations, including Sahnewal, Kila Raipur and Jagraon. As a result of the protest, trains deviated from their scheduled timings, causing harassment to passengers.
Sarjivan Manglani, a passenger traveling from Ludhiana to Gwalior, expressed his frustration while waiting for the Malwa Express, which was running four hours behind schedule. The train, which was supposed to arrive in Ludhiana by 3:05 pm, reached at 7:10 pm. Manglani stated that blocking railway tracks in protest is utterly harassment for thousands of passengers.
“We are harassed, forced to wait for hours at the station due to circumstances beyond our control. Such disruptions not only create inconvenience for passengers, but also affect their schedules and plans,” he stated.
Jeevan Joshi, another passenger intending to travel to Ahmedabad via the SVDK-Jamnagar Express, had to wait more than three-and-a-half hours for the train to arrive. Joshi demanded stern action against people for disrupting and blocking roads and rail tracks.
