169 days later, trains back on Asr-Delhi track

Blurb: Farmers’ union lifts dharna to focus on Delhi, crop harvesting

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 12

The train traffic between Amritsar and Delhi mainline was restored on Friday, a day after the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KMSC) lifted its 169-day-long dharna at the Jandiala Guru railway station.

The New Delhi-Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi Express (via Ludhiana) resumed operation after almost a year. The service was hit due to the lockdown and later due to the farmers’ agitation.

Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary, KMSC, said the blockade was lifted to consolidate the farmers’ protest at Delhi border and facilitate harvest of crops. He said no goods train was ever blocked. The lifting of dharna did not mean that their struggle against the three farm laws had weakened, he added.

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, the railway station had been daily handling operations of 116 trains. It was classified as an A-1 category station with annual earnings of Rs 228 crore. Tourists visiting the Golden temple used to form a major chunk of the 55,000 daily footfall.

For the past 169 days, the station has been handling a handful of daily trains like Janshtabadi, Paschim Express, Frontier (Golden Temple), Shahid Express, Amritsar-Pathankot passenger train, besides a couple of weekly trains.