Indian Railways has cancelled several train services arriving at and departing from New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations for 10 hours on Saturday, October 10, citing anticipated severe traffic congestion around the stations due to a planned protest by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and Opposition parties in the national capital.
A senior railway official told The Indian Express that train services to and from the two stations would remain cancelled between 4 am and 2 pm on Saturday. The official said the decision was taken to minimise inconvenience to passengers, adding that around 5,000 passengers had missed their trains on Thursday.
In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said intelligence inputs and traffic advisories indicated severe road congestion around New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations during the period due to planned demonstrations in central Delhi.
“As a proactive, precautionary step, all Mail/Express trains starting from source after 14:00 hrs on 9th Oct which were scheduled to arrive New Delhi / Hazrat Nizamuddin between 04:00-14:00 hrs on 10th Oct are cancelled at source,” the ministry said.
Two Rajdhani Express trains cancelled
The Eastern Railway has cancelled two Rajdhani Express trains scheduled to depart from West Bengal on Friday, October 9.
The cancelled services are the 12301 Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and the 12313 Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express. Both trains were scheduled to begin their journeys on Friday.
Rajasthan-bound services affected
Several trains connecting Delhi with Haryana and Rajasthan have also been cancelled on October 9 and 10.
The affected services include the 15308 Sirsa-Tilak Bridge, 12964 Udaipur City-Hazrat Nizamuddin, 12963 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Udaipur City, 14727 Shri Ganganagar-Tilak Bridge, 14738 Tilak Bridge-Bhiwani, 14737 Bhiwani-Tilak Bridge and 14728 Tilak Bridge-Shri Ganganagar.
The cancellations affect services departing from their originating stations on Friday and Saturday, depending on the train.
The railway restrictions come amid heightened security arrangements in Delhi ahead of the planned demonstrations. The Delhi Police has also asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to consider closing entry and exit gates at 57 metro stations from Friday night and reducing train frequency at the identified stations.
Passengers travelling to or from the affected stations have been advised to check their train status before leaving for the railway station.
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