Tags:
Journalism of Courage
SONEPAT, MARCH 5: Train services on the Sonepat-Delhi section of the Northern Railway remained disrupted for more than an hour or so following a mechanical defect on the railway track between Sonepat and Sandal Kalan railway stations about five km from here yesterday.
According to official sources, several DPM and suburban trains besides the long distance train including the Shatabadi and Jhelum Express were held up at Sonepat, Sandal Kalan and Ganaur railway stations for half-an-hour and more than one hour, thereby stranding thousands of passengers mostly commuters travelling on these trains.
The Amritsar bound deluxe ran late and the 4647 UP Flying Mail was behind schedule for seven hours.
The railway sources point out that the traffic on the UP railway line between Delhi and Ambala had not been normalised so far even after three months. This railway line, it may be recalled, was damaged because of 1,400 cracks developed on it between Delhi and Ambala on December 3 last year when the wheels of a goods train turned flat while it passed through this track. This resulted in the dislocation of the rail traffic and the speed of many trains such as Shatabadi, superfast and other mail and Express trains was restricted in a bid to save the lives of the travelling public.
The railway sources also revealed that the road traffic passing through the railway crossing gate no 29 near the local cooperative sugar mills had increased manifold and many a times the incoming and outgoing trains are held up near this gate to allow a large number of vehicles to pass through it. On some occasions, the UP and Down railway lines remain defective and this led to disruption in the movement of the trains.
Meanwhile, the railways is contemplating closure of this gate permanently in a bid to ensure the running of the trains uninterruptedly.
