CHAOS REIGNED supreme at the Charbagh Railway Station on Thursday night with the derailment of a goods train, late on Wednesday night, near Banthara, playing havoc with the rail traffic. Almost all major trains, including Lucknow Mail, ran abnormally late, leaving the passengers with a nightmarish experience with no senior rail official available to help the commuters. Three trains had to be cancelled and scores of others were running way behind schedule.
Lucknow Mail which reaches Delhi around 7 am was slated to leave Lucknow junction around 3.45 am (scheduled departure time 10 pm) with authorities not ruling out the possibility of still further delay.
Similarly, Rapti Sagar Express was running 14 hours behind schedule, Howrah Amritsar Mail by over 7 hours, Dehradun Express by over 6 hours, Janta Express by 17 hours, Saryu Yamuna Express by over 18 hours, the Punjab Mail by around eight hours, the Kisan Express by around seven hours, Lohit Express by five hours.
Later, in a delayed response, the railway authorities, apparently under pressure from the harried commuters set up two refund counters at the station for those passengers whose trains were either cancelled or were running abnormally late.
There were reports that two more refund counters could be opened later in the night. Railway officials said several compartments of a goods train derailed near the railway bridge on the Garra river on the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur-Bareilly rail route.
{{/usCountry}}There were reports that two more refund counters could be opened later in the night. Railway officials said several compartments of a goods train derailed near the railway bridge on the Garra river on the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur-Bareilly rail route.
{{/usCountry}}The derailment led to entire the rail traffic coming to Lucknow from Delhi, Meerut, Ambala and Dehradun being delayed by several hours. They were diverted to their destinations through a much longer route via Moradabad, Aligarh and Kanpur.
DRM, NR, RK Gupta ordered the cancellation of the Varanasi-Bareilly passenger, the Allahabad-Bareilly passenger and the Mughalsarai-Bareilly Express. The Lucknow-Delhi Shaheed Express and the Assam-Avadh Express were diverted via Kanpur-Ghaziabad. The Dibrugarh-Amritsar Express, the Jalianwala Bagh Express, the Sealdah Express and the Upasana Express was diverted via Kanpur-Aligarh-Chandausi towards Moradabad. The Chandigarh Express will leave around 3 am, railway authorities said.
Some passengers had a heated exchange of words with the rail staff. “We still do not know the exact reason for the delay,” an agitated passenger said.