Kuldip Bhatia
Ludhiana, January 1
With weather conditions deteriorating further and visibility becoming near zero, the rail traffic in the region has gone chaotic. Two intercity trains to and from Delhi were cancelled for the day and almost all others, including three pairs of elite Shatabdi Express were running late by one to more than six hours. Most other long-route trains were also running way behind schedule.
Rail travel became a nightmare for passengers travelling between New Delhi and different destinations in Punjab as two intercity express trains (12459/60 New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi) were cancelled, both pairs of New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi Express (12013/14 and 12029/30), one pair of New Delhi-Moga-New Delhi Shatabdi Express (12043/44) one pair of New Delhi-Jalandhar-New Delhi Intercity Express (14681/82) and one pair of New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi Shan-e-Punjab (12497/98) were delayed by one to 8.30 hours.
Railways cancelled four other long-route trains, 13005 Howrah-Amritsar Mail, 14673 Jaynagar-Amritsar Shaheed Express, 15209 Saharsa-Amritsar Jansewa Express and 15210 Amritsar-Saharsa Jansewa Express in addition to one pair of New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi Intercity Express (12459/60). Rescheduling of as many as 22 trains for late departure by one to nine hours further compounded the situation for rail travelers, who were left to fend for themselves.
Trains running late
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