Nightmare on at railway stations

Fog continued to cripple railway services in the Capital.

Fog continued to cripple railway services in the Capital.

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On Sunday, 22 mail/express trains had to be rescheduled and around 20 cancelled. Some, like the Ranchi Garib Rath were delayed by over 27 hours.

At least 22 trains to Delhi were delayed on Sunday. Most trains were late by at least four hours due to fog and also due to Saturday's train accident in Uttar Pradesh.

“We have established helplines for people to call and learn about the delays in advance,” said a Northern Railway spokesman.

Some trains like the Anand Vihar- New Jalpaiguri express and the Brahmaputra Mail to Assam were rescheduled to depart on the next day. Most trains had to be rescheduled by around eight hours.

Passengers who could not confirm the extent of the delays turned up at the stations only to be stranded at waiting rooms already bursting at the seams since Saturday.

“Phone lines were jammed so we could not find out how delayed our train was. So we arrived at the station in the middle of this mess,” said Sudhir Chowdhruy, whose Vikrashila Express to Bhagalpur was rescheduled by over 9 hours from its scheduled departure at 2.40 pm on Sunday.

“We request people to find about the delay before coming to stations, for their own convenience,” added the Northern Railways spokesperson.