The Railways on Friday cancelled 75 of the 165 mail and express trains to and from New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations between 4am and 2pm on Saturday, citing expected traffic congestion in central Delhi, where the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) plans a protest at Jantar Mantar.
A railway official said that 35 of the 75 departing mail and express trains were cancelled because the incoming trains, whose coaches were scheduled to be used, had been scrapped. This brings the total number of cancellations to approximately 75.
Railways cites congestion around central Delhi
The order covers trains that were to leave their originating stations after 2pm on Friday. “There are a total of 165 trains which terminate at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations between 4am and 2pm and out of all these, only 35 have been cancelled in view of anticipated severe road traffic congestion in the areas,” said Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, chief public relations officer of Northern Railway.
The Railways said both stations would stay open for departing passengers. A railway official, who asked not to be named, said “intelligence inputs and traffic advisory” indicated severe road congestion around the two stations on Saturday because of a “planned protest by Opposition parties in Central Delhi”, and that the cancellations were a precaution to spare passengers hardship.
{{/usCountry}}The Railways said both stations would stay open for departing passengers. A railway official, who asked not to be named, said “intelligence inputs and traffic advisory” indicated severe road congestion around the two stations on Saturday because of a “planned protest by Opposition parties in Central Delhi”, and that the cancellations were a precaution to spare passengers hardship.
{{/usCountry}}The cancelled trains include several from Uttar Pradesh, among them the Kanpur-New Delhi Shatabdi, the Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas Express, the Lucknow Mail and the Prayagraj Express. North Central Railway, which cancelled more than 20 mail, express and passenger trains for Friday and Saturday, also scrapped suburban MEMU and EMU services linking Aligarh, Khurja, Tundla and Ghaziabad with Delhi.
Passengers to receive refunds for cancelled services
Passengers on cancelled trains will get refunds, said Samarth Gupta, senior divisional commercial manager of Northern Railway’s Lucknow division.
A railway workers’ federation and passenger groups questioned the move. “People travel for a hundred different reasons, including medical emergencies and other important work. You cannot assume that everyone who had booked a train to arrive on October 10 is coming to participate in the protest,” said Shiv Gopal Mishra, general secretary of the All India Railwaymen’s Federation, a federation of railway employees’ unions.
Mishra said the trains could have been terminated at stations outside central Delhi instead. “There could have been better management and planning. Cancelling trains scheduled to arrive at the stations will cause unnecessary inconvenience to the travelling public,” he said.
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Basant Kumar Shukla, head of the Nagpur-based passenger welfare group Bhartiya Yatri Kendra, said the cancellations came as the festival season was beginning. “Sudden cancellation of trains is nothing but severe inconvenience to the passengers who booked their tickets 60 days in advance,” he said.
M Jameel Ahamed, chairman of the Coimbatore District Railway Passengers’ Welfare Association, said a journey from Coimbatore to Delhi takes around 36 hours on the Kerala Express, and that many passengers, particularly from economically weaker sections, depend on such trains. “These passengers may have onward travel plans, examinations or other commitments. Last-minute cancellations can cause considerable hardship,” he said.
“This is not just a one-day problem; the impact can spill over into the following days, affecting thousands of passengers and creating overcrowding at stations,” Ahamed added.