Long-route trains cancelled, passengers left in the lurch

Ludhiana: Several long-route trains from New Delhi to Amritsar-Jammu via Ludhiana were cancelled by the Northern Railway on Monday in the wake of the flood-like situation after flood gates of the Bhakra Dam were opened.
Services of several inter-district trains were also suspended by the railway authorities after water-level under various railway over bridge rose.
On the other hand, with the cancellation of trains, passengers had to face a tough time while reaching their destination.
Apart from cancellation, trains coming from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam arrived late which irked passengers.
Numerous major long-route trains, including New Delhi-Jalandhar City, (Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to Rishikesh) Hemkunt Express remained in the list of partially cancelled trains due to flood-like situation across the north India.
Moreover, the railway department has taken the decision to divert railway route of some of trains like Jammu Tawi-Ahmadabad Superfast Express.
The route of the Ganga Satluj Superfast Express was diverted through Firozpur-Moga-Ludhiana to reach its destination. Bathinda-Jammu Tawi Express route was also diverted from Firozpur-Ludhiana-Jalandhar City to reach its final destination.
While speaking to one of the passengers waiting for the Jammu-bound train, Gurjinder Singh said: “Uncertainty prevailed over the working of the railway authorities. There is no information about when the cancelled trains will resume its services. Situation across the north India is getting worse.”
One of the woman passengers, Jaspreet Kaur, waiting for Hisar passenger train, said: “The railway authorities decided to cancel the train at the last moment. It has created a lot of problem for us as we have to attend a marriage function. Failure on the part of the administration has left people in this situation. The authorities should have informed us before cancelling the train as we had booked the tickets two months back.”
Tarun Kumar, director, Ludhiana railway station, said: “After water was released from the Bhakra Dam, water level has touched railway over bridges. Therefore, as preventive measure, the Northern Railway has decided to cancel several long-route trains passing through the city station on Monday. These trains will soon pitch into service after the situation turns normal. The railway authorities have made all necessary arrangements to tackle any untoward incident.”