Farmer ‘rail roko’ hits train traffic, passengers hassled

The three-hour ‘rail roko’ in Punjab had passengers stranded at the Chandigarh railway station.

The protest by farmers affected train traffic, causing delays. Trains were stopped at 52 locations in the Ferozepur railway division and 12 in the Ambala division between12 noon and 3 pm.

In Chandigarh, Paschim Express (12926) from Amritsar to Mumbai arrived late at 12:10 pm against scheduled arrival at 11.57 am. It took roughly three hours for the train to leave Chandigarh because of the farmers’ stir. The train normally makes a 10-minute halt here. However, it left the station at 3.18 pm today.

Roshni Sharma, who had to board the train from Chandigarh to reach New Delhi, booked a cab instead of waiting for another two hours. However, many passengers, who had already boarded the train at Amritsar Jalandhar and Phagwara, had no choice but to wait for three hours at the Chandigarh railway station.

Several other trains such as Vande Bharat Express were also delayed. The Vande Bharat Express reached here at 4.44 pm against the scheduled arrival of 3.32 pm. The train originated from Amb in Himachal Pradesh had halted at one station (Anandpur Sahib) before reaching the city. It reached Anandpur Sahib late by 14 minutes and made a 30-minutes halt due to the farmers’ protest.

Meanwhile, morning and evening trains left Chandigarh as per schedule. However, the Lucknow Junction Express was rescheduled by two hour and five minutes from its original departure time. Also, the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express was cancelled.