Rail traffic across north India will be affected this month amid a traffic block at Chiheru railway station in Kapurthala district falling between the Sahnewal-Amritsar section in Ferozepur division owing to development work.
The schedule of the trains will be affected on some days from November 16 till the conclusion of this month. Railway officials said passengers are advised to check the latest train schedule online before planning their journey to avoid an inconvenience.
As many as 58 trains have been cancelled, 48 rescheduled, 16 will follow diverted routes, 10 short-terminated and nine short-originated for the remaining period of this month.
Prominent cancelled trains are Pathankot-Delhi, Amritsar-Jaynagar, Amritsar-Saharsa, Amritsar-New Delhi, Amritsar-Haridwar, Jalandhar-Delhi, Amritsar-Jalpaiguri, Jammu Tawi-Barmer and New Delhi-Katra.
Railway officials said they were aware of the inconvenience to the rail passengers during a fortnight-long disruption of the train schedule due to the addition and alteration works at Chiheru railway station as part of the longer loops project.
The latest temporary train schedule released by the railways will disrupt train traffic at railway stations spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Punjab. These station are Old Delhi, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar City, Ferozepur Cantt, Pathankot, Haridwar, Nangal Dam, Phillaur, Jammu and Katra.
Meanwhile, passengers and vendors are dismayed at the block of the railway line. Bhupinder Singh, who frequently travels between Amritsar and Delhi, said, “Dense smog has made the travel in personal vehicles on the roads unsafe. In this scenario, trains offer safe and secure travel. Cancellation of 58 trains is extremely high and before taking such a decision the railway administration should offer alternative routes.”
Vendors at the railway station said the move would curtail passenger footfall at the stations, and their earnings. They demanded compensation from the railways to meet their expenses.