Sampark Kranti short terminated/originated at Jammu
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Sept 3: Due to heavy rain and flooding, newly introduced shuttle service between Jammu and Katra was suspended today while the scheduled Sampark Kranti train was also short terminated/short originated at Jammu.
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According to an official spokesperson of the Northern Railway, the shuttle services between Jammu and Katra, which was started to facilitate the movement of daily passengers and stranded persons, were cancelled today in view of heavy rains and flooding of the track.
Official said that shuttle train 04632 (from Katra to Jammu), 04632 (from Jammu to Katra), 04634 (Katra to Jammu) and 04633 (Jammu to Katra), remained cancelled today.
The shuttle services of these four trains was introduced on September 1 to help locals and stranded passengers’ travel between Jammu and Katra – the base camp of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine and were scheduled to run until September 15.
Further, there was landslide on the track near Bajalta with the result, the scheduled Sampark Kranti train from New Delhi to Katra (12445) was short-terminated at Jammu Railway Station.
In view of the prevailing situation, official added, the schedule train (12446) from Katra to New Delhi, was short originated from Jammu at 9:35 PM for its onward journey.
Pertinent to mention that Sampark Kranti train 12445 (New Delhi-Katra) and 12446 (Katra-New Delhi) was restored from September 1 (Monday).
The fresh spell of heavy rains since yesterday has not only halted the repair work but is also feared to have further damaged the railway infrastructure, thus doubting the certainty on restoring operations of a few more trains.
Besides restoring Sampark Kranti and Sealdhah Express on September 1 and 2, respectively, Northern Railway had yesterday announced restoration of a few more trains by the end of this week.
As per the announcement, Swaraj Group train (12472, 12474, 12476 and 12478) shall run from September 6 (Saturday) while Jammu Tawi- Ajmer Jn (12414) and SMVD Katra-New Delhi (22478) shall run from September 7 (Sunday). Similarly, Andaman Express (16032), Himsagar Express (16318 and Navyug Express (16788) shall run from September 8 (Monday). These are long distance trains that connect various parts of India with Jammu and Katra.
Normal rail traffic in the Jammu Railway Division has been paralyzed for the past nine days due to misalignment and breaches caused by heavy rains and flash floods on August 26 in the Pathankot-Jammu section. The Northern Railway has announced cancellation of 68 trains to and from Jammu station till September 30.
Meanwhile, air traffic in Jammu remained normal today as there was arrival of nine scheduled flights and the same number of scheduled departures. One flight (SG160/161) was cancelled due to operational reason by the operator while one arrival flight (IGO2356) was diverted to Chandigarh, said an official at Jammu Airport.
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