Track damage disrupts rail
traffic
16
trains cancelled, 1 lakh passengers stranded
Tribune
News Service
CHANDIGARH, Dec 3 —
Damage to the rail track between Ambala and New Delhi led
to the cancellation of four express trains today while
other trains, including the Shatabdis between
Delhi-Amritsar and Delhi-Chandigarh, were delayed between
seven and 10 hours.
Thousands of harassed
commuters on board the trains went without food or water
for several hours while their relatives, waitings for
them at different stations north of Delhi, faced undue
anxiety following lack of accurate communication from the
Railways. Meanwhile over one lakh of passengers from
Amritsar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Jammu, Pathankot,
Chandigarh, Ambala, Karnal and Bathinda bound for various
destinations were left stranded.
Besides the four trains
cancelled today another 12 trains connecting the region
with Delhi and beyond have been cancelled while a total
of 38 trains between the damaged section have been
diverted. The damage to the track between Ambala-Delhi
was at nearly 70 places, sources in the Railways said.
The damage was caused as
the wheels of the locomotive of a
train running between
Tundla and Ludhiana, last night. The wheels of the train
had some "depression" in them which disturbed
their symmetry. This is called a "flat tyre
problem" in technical terms. The wheels caused
cracks in the track at several places, the sources
confirmed. The driver of the train, Amarjeet Singh, who
was responsible for checking the "flat tyres"
has been suspended.
This has also raised
doubts about the recent accident following the derailment
of a few coaches at Khanna last week leading to the death
of more than 200 passengers, according to the sources.
Meanwhile teams of the
Delhi division of the Railways arrived at the spot in the
afternoon and were checking the track. The cracks, termed
as "fractures" by the Railways, are potentially
dangerous for the operation of the trains. Each crack has
to be welded.
The morning trains that
started from Delhi were stopped enroute at places like
Panipat, Karnal and Kurukshetra as engine drivers
reportedly complained of a "clanging noise"
form the tracks. As the Ambala-Delhi route has a double
track. Only one track was used to facilitate the passage
of trains.
Most of the express trains
like the Shatabdi, running in excess of 100 kmph, were
running at a speed less than 25 kmph. It was virtual
"crawl" by the train, a woman passenger from
Panchkula travelling on the Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi
revealed. Nothing was served to the passengers barring
the routine breakfast served around 8 a.m. the train
reached Chandigarh around 4.15 p.m.
While children were crying
for water some of the elders could be seen arranging for
taxis, passengers said. Meanwhile, in Chandigarh, Dr M.
Bala Krishnan complained that he went to receive his wife
after checking up with the computerised enquiry. He was
informed that the train was coming at 12.20 p.m. However,
it did not reach till beyond 4 p.m., he said. The
Railways could have diverted the train, he said.
The four trains —
Shane-e-Punjab; Swaran Shatabdi; Shatabdi and the Flying
Mail — cancelled today, run between Amritsar and
Delhi. Besides this, all trains like the evening Shatabdi
between Delhi and Chandigarh was diverted from
Shamli-Saharanpur. The Intercity between Bathinda-Delhi
was diverted from Meerut and Ghaziabad.
Meanwhile for tomorrow the
Railways said some of the long distance trains will
terminate at Delhi or go north of Delhi via alternate
routes.
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