NEW DELHI, July 13 (PTI): More than 300 mail and express trains and 406 passenger trains have been cancelled between July 7 and July 15 due to waterlogging on tracks following heavy rainfall over the past few days, officials said on Thursday.
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Overall, about 600 mail and express trains and over 500 passenger trains have been affected, including some cancelled, diverted, short-terminated and others short-originated, due to waterlogging, they said.
Northwest India saw incessant rainfall over three days from Saturday, with many areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan recording “heavy to extremely heavy” rains.
This resulted in overflowing rivers, creeks and drains that massively damaged infrastructure and disrupted essential services in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.
The Northern Railway, which caters to this region, cancelled around 300 mail/express trains, short-terminated 100 trains and diverted 191 more. It also short-originated around 67 trains, the officials said.
Due to heavy waterlogging, it has also cancelled 406 passenger trains, diverted 28 trains, short-originated 56 and short-terminated 54 trains, they said
According to a statement by the Northern Railway, due to incessant rain and inclement weather in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, train services have been affected on Ambala, Delhi, Ferozepur and Moradabad divisions.
Help desks have been opened at all major railway stations to guide passengers, it said.
Announcements regarding cancellation/diversion/commencing of journey before destination of cancelled trains are being made regularly at stations. Additional counters have been opened at various places over Northern Railway for providing information and refund of tickets to passengers, the statement said.
The supply of food items has been increased. Buses have been arranged to take the affected passengers to their destination stations by road, officials said.
The Northern Railway has coordinated with the governments of Haryana and Uttarakhand regarding the installation of buses. For continuous monitoring of the situation, staff has been deployed by the officers at the headquarters and the divisional control offices, they said.
Railway staff has been deployed to inform about waterlogged traffic/passengers and the situation is being regularly monitored. For the convenience of passengers, 18 additional counters have been opened at railway stations, the officials said.
These include two in New Delhi, one each in Delhi Junction, Anand Vihar Terminal, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Ghaziabad, Meerut City, Ambala Cantonment, Bathinda, two in Moradabad, one in Hapur, one in Roorkee, among others, they said.
