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Ludhiana: Commuters bear the brunt of dense fog, at least 10 trains, 67 buses delayed
The weather department has predicted the likelihood of western disturbances over north India by December 20
Dense fog disrupted rail and road traffic across Ludhiana on Friday morning, leaving passengers stranded for hours as at least 10 trains and around 67 Punjab Roadways and PRTC buses were delayed due to poor visibility, severely affecting travel at the railway station and the interstate bus stand.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an orange alert for dense fog on Thursday, which was upgraded to a red alert on Friday morning. The weather department has predicted the likelihood of western disturbances over north India by December 20, which could bring light rainfall to parts of Punjab and improve visibility. No fog alert has been issued for the weekend so far.
Rail services affected
Rail traffic at Ludhiana Junction remained severely affected, with several trains running behind schedule due to low visibility. Around 10 trains were delayed by over an hour, while multiple long-distance services recorded delays ranging from two to over seven hours.
The Vande Bharat Express operating between Katra and New Delhi was running nearly two-and-a-half hours late.
“I was travelling to Delhi for a business meeting and planned to return the same evening. But the delay means I will have to reschedule everything,” said Abhi Gulati, a passenger waiting at the station.
Among other delayed trains, the Guwahati–Jammu Tawi Express was running over seven hours late, while the Amrapali Express, Swaraj Express and Malwa Express were delayed by more than five hours. The Thiruvananthapuram North (Kochuveli)–Amritsar Weekly Superfast Express was over three hours behind schedule, the New Delhi–Moga Intercity was delayed by around two hours, and the Pathankot Superfast Express was running more than one-and-a-half hours late.
Passengers travelling towards Amritsar, Jalandhar and Jammu were seen waiting for extended periods amid cold and foggy conditions.
Vinod Gupta, who was travelling to Jammu by Swaraj Express, said his train scheduled to arrive at 10.18 am had not reached even by noon.
Narain Das, travelling with his family to Amritsar by Amrapali Express, said their train, scheduled for 8.40 am, reached the station around 12.40 pm.
Bus operations disrupted
Dense fog also affected road transport, disrupting operations at the Ludhiana Interstate Bus Stand during early morning hours. Around 67 Punjab Roadways and PRTC buses operating on major intercity routes were delayed, affecting nearly 20 to 25% of scheduled services.
Jagtar Singh, joint secretary of the Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC contractual workers’ union, said buses on routes to Jalandhar, Amritsar, Pathankot, Bathinda, Sangrur, Patiala and Chandigarh were among the worst affected.
“Even buses that departed Ludhiana between 5 am and 5.30 am faced unavoidable delays at other depots due to poor visibility, leading to missed timelines and late arrivals,” he added.
Officials said reduced visibility forced buses to slow down significantly, causing delays to accumulate across routes. In several cases, buses picked up passengers from roundabouts and locations outside the bus stand premises.
Passengers expressed frustration
Arunika Jain, a traveller from Jalandhar, said she missed her train to Delhi for a job interview due to delayed bus services. “I had to catch my train for Delhi this morning for a job interview, but I ended up missing it as the bus was running late by almost an hour. Now, I am looking for an alternative to reach on time,” she said.
Neha Sharma, travelling to Amritsar, said, “Even when buses finally left the depot, they had to slow down significantly because of the fog. I had work appointments which required me to reach on time, but everything has been delayed now. It felt like the whole day got wasted because of delayed buses.”
