*Addl coaches attached
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Apr 24: There was an apparent sigh of relief among the stranded tourists reaching here from Kashmir as Northern Railway operated special trains to help them reaching their respective destinations in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack.
More than 2000 such tourists who wanted to cut short their trip to Jammu and Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, were accommodated in three special trains and the additional coaches attached to regular trains that left Jammu on Wednesday and Thursday.
While the first special train (04612) carrying 760 stranded tourists left Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Station last evening at 21:20 hours, the second and third special trains (04614 and 04164) with around 1000 such tourists on board commenced journey at 14:00 hours and 21:20 hrs from Katra today, taking halt at Udhampur, Jammu and other stations before terminating at the New Delhi Railway Station.
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In addition to these, 593 more such tourists reaching here from Kashmir were accommodated in the additional coaches attached to the regular trains from Jammu, Katra, Udhampur and other stations to reach their respective destination, since last evening.
“In case of further rush of such tourists, we are ready enough to arrange more special trains for them within one hour,” said Uchit Singhal, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Jammu.
While elaborating, he told the Excelsior that several initiative have been taken by the Railways during on hand crisis in J&K and special help desks have been set up at Katra as well as Jammu railway stations along with a crowd management room in Jammu with CCTV feed.
Besides three special trains, , JAT helpdesk and ticket checking staff at Jammu accommodated almost 165 stranded tourists in various trains like 12920, 22942, 20434, 22432, 12414, 12446 and 14662 on Wednesday, he said and further informed that around 170 tourists reached Udhampur Station (MCTM) from Sangaldhan last evening and 40 of them were accommodated in Train number 14504, 60 in 14612, 54 in 22462 and 16 in 12550.
“Special train (04612) from SVDK for NDLS was planned and maintained at very short notice. It departed SVDK at 21:20 and JAT at 23:27 with almost 67 percent occupation containing around 580 reserved passengers and around 180 unreserved passengers while the second special train (04614) from SVDK to NDLS) carried around 200 passengers,” he said.
The second special train was initially planned to start from Katra at 10:50 hrs. However, after a discussion with the local authorities, it was rescheduled at 14:00 hrs in the afternoon, he added.
Seeing the demand pattern, one extra 3rd AC coach (72 berths) was attached in Train 13152 (Jammutawi -Sealdah) that departed Jammu Station tonight at 20.30 hrs to clear east bound rush while one additional coach was attached in already notified special train 04164 (SVDK-NDLS) that took off from Katra at 21.20 hrs.
“A Vadodara bound group of 23 tourists stranded at Jammu today came in contact of the Railways and all of them are being accommodated in Train 12472 (direct train upto Vadodara) for tomorrow morning,” informed Uchit Singhal.
The Railways also released a helpline number for Jammu Tawi railway station — 0191-2470116. People living in the Jammu region can also dial 1072 to get information about train services. The helpline numbers for Katra and Udhampur railway stations are 01991-234876 and 7717306616, respectively.
Meanwhile, the tourists who reached here from Kashmir for their onward journey to their respective native places following Pahalgam terror attack, said that they were feeling safe in Jammu.
“We had gone to Kashmir for enjoying holidays but the barbaric terror attack that left 26 tourists dead and several injured panicked us and now we want to reach our home as early as possible,” they said and informed that they reached Jammu via road with the help of their tour operator and local administration.
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