Railways cancels seven trains due to foggy weather

PATNA: The railways on Monday cancelled seven passenger trains and rescheduled at least three from different stations under Danapur division of East Central Railway (ECR) due to the foggy weather conditions.

According to an official, railways cancelled Udyan Abha Toofan Express (13007/13008), Danapur-Anand Vihar Jan Sadharan Express (13257), New Delhi-Malda Farakka Express (14004), Sealdah-Anand Vihar Upper India Express (13119), Mahananda Express (15483/15484) among others.

“The railways also rescheduled the departure of Pataliputra-Lucknow Express (12529), Darbhanga-Ahmedabad Sabarmati Express (19166) and Howrah-Haridwar Kumbha Express (12369),” he said.

ECR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Rajesh Kumar said the railways has cancelled 36 trains and reduced the frequencies of 24 trains from December 13 to February 15, 2019 because of the foggy weather which badly affects train movements.

“We have installed fog safety devices in about 500 locomotives to caution loco pilots from about 200 metres in foggy weather conditions. Besides, they will also get signal in case of zero visibility on the tracks,” he said and added, “Loco pilots have been instructed to follow winter safety rules, ‘stop and go’, to avert any mishap either due to poor visibility or signal failure.”

Danapur DRM Ranjan Prakash Thakur said safety officials and staff are already put on high alert during night. “A special winter safety team comprising officials from engineering and traffic wings has been asked to do ‘foot-plating’ (travel with loco pilots) for all mail and express trains from 9pm to 6am,” Thakur said.

Meanwhile, railway safety wing is making surprise inspections at roadside stations and cabins to check staff alertness during night. “Danapur control room keeps a close watch on the movement of trains as well as informing station master and cabin man about the intensity of fog in the vulnerable areas of the division,” sources said.