CHENNAI: The escalating protests by the Jat community demanding reservation which hit essential services in the north has now hit the southern states too with at least seven trains being cancelled and four services diverted on Sunday and Monday.
According to an official release, the weekly express from Mangalore Central to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra scheduled to leave Mangalore at 4.50pm on Monday has been cancelled. Similarly, another train bound for Jammu Tawi, a bi-weekly link express scheduled to leave Tirunelveli at 4pm Monday has also been cancelled, the release added.
Further, the Delhi Sarai Rohilla bound GT Express from Chennai, scheduled to leave Chennai Central at 7.15pm on Sunday and the Sampark Kranthi Kochuveli-Chandigarh bi-weekly express, scheduled to leave Kochuveli at 9.20am on Monday have also been cancelled, the release said, adding that Monday's GT Express also stands cancelled.
Two other trains, Chennai Central-Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto Express scheduled to leave Chennai Central at 6.40am on Monday and Kerala Express starting from Thiruvananthapuram Central at 11.15am on Monday to New Delhi have been cancelled.
Apart from the cancellations, the New Delhi bound Tamil Nadu Express scheduled to leave Chennai Central around 10pm will be diverted to run via Agra Cantonment, Etmadpur, Mitawal, Hathras Jn, Aligarh and Ghaziabad. Mangala Ldweep Express scheduled to leave Ernakulam junction at 1.15pm on Sunday to H Nizamuddin was diverted to run via Agra Cantt, Mitawal, Hathras Jn, Aligarh and Ghaziabad. These diversions were applicable for both Sunday and Monday, the press note stated.
According to reports, about 527 trains including 210 mail and express trains and 317 passenger trains have been cancelled across the country and more than a 100 trains diverted because of the Jat agitation, demanding quota.