Ajay Raina
JAMMU, Feb 22: As violence continued to rage in Haryana due to strike by Jat community for reservation quota, the inter-State train services remained affected for the fourth consecutive day today from Jammu and Katra, resulting into manifold problems to the stranded passengers.
However, to provide sigh of relief to the stranded passengers including Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Northern Railways arranged two special trains, which left for New Delhi from Jammu and Katra Railway Stations today via Saharanpur route.
Official sources told the EXCELSIOR that following crisis in Haryana, hundreds of passengers are stuck up in Jammu and at Base Camp of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra due to cancellation of trains for the fourth consecutive day.
Sources stated that Northern Railways (NR) sent two special trains from Jammu and Katra to New Delhi, for which current ticket booking was started, adding that the reservation took place on the spot for the convenience of passengers.
“One train left for Delhi at 2230 hours from Jammu Tawi Railway Station, while another left at around 1930 hrs from Katra”, sources said, adding that these special trains will reach New Delhi via Saharanpur route (Jammu-Pathankot-Ludhiana-Ambala-Saharanpur-Ghaziabad-New Delhi).
Earlier, the special train from Jammu was scheduled at 1800 hours but due to low passengers, it was rescheduled at 2230 hours, sources said, adding that train service to and fro Jammu remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day due to the ongoing Jat agitation in Haryana, which has led to manifold problems for the passengers at Katra and Jammu Railway Stations.
Around 10 trains to Jammu and Katra from other parts of the country and vice versa were cancelled today, sources said, adding that over 20,000 passengers were affected due to cancellation of trains.
Sources added that around 10 trains were cancelled including Swaraj, Tata Mori, Pooja, Kranti, Jammu Mail, Rajdhani, Shiv Shakti, Sagar, Malwa and Dhurnto, while the trains namely Vivek, VMU, Sealdah, Hemkund left to their respective destinations from Jammu Railway Station via Saharanpur route.
When contacted Divisional Traffic Manager (DTM), Northern Railway, Sudhir Kumar Singh said that today also two special trains were sent by Railways to Delhi via Saharanpur route.
However, the bus service from Jammu to other parts of the country also remained partially affected. Some of the buses going to Delhi have been diverted from Uttar Pradesh and are coming back to Jammu via same route.
“We are sending the sleeper coaches to New Delhi via Uttar Pradesh route. If we halt the service, we have to face losses. Some of the sleeper buses have been damaged by the protestors and are still stranded near Sonipat and Panipat areas”, said Sudershan Sharma, Chairman, All India Sleeper Coaches Owners Association.
He said that sleeper buses are running around 300 kilometers extra to reach New Delhi, but we are not charging extra fares from the passengers especially Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims, adding that sleeper buses are going to New Delhi from Katra and Jammu via Uttar Pradesh.
DK Gautam, Director, Jammu Airport said that one Air India (AI) flight arrived at Satwari Airport, which was thrown open yesterday to provide relief to the stranded passengers in Jammu on the directions of the Central Government.
He added that about 150 passengers were flown in this flight to New Delhi, who were stranded in Jammu due to Jat stir in Haryana. One more AI flight is expected to reach this airport tomorrow, he maintained.
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