Several long-distance trains originating from northern Indian States were delayed as foggy conditions affected visibility and disrupted train operation.
The New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express, which was scheduled to reach the City on Tuesday evening, arrived at 4.30 am, 11 hours behind schedule. The East Coast Railway authorities had to change the timing of the outward journey of the train. It left for New Delhi at 4 pm as against the normal schedule of 11.20 am.
Similarly, Rajdhani Express, which left New Delhi on Wednesday, is expected to be delayed by at least two hours on Thursday. Its departure too has been changed.
The Sampark Kranti Express, originating from the national capital, was also late by over eight hours. Other trains such as Purushottam Express and Neelachal Express too faced similar problems, thanks to the dense fog in Uttar Pradesh. Neelachal and Purushottam both ran at least seven hours behind schedule, while New Delhi-Puri Nandankanan Express was delayed by five hours. Similarly, Utkal Express was running four hours behind schedule.
The railway authorities had to push the timing of certain trains, mostly headed towards national capital, to overcome the problem.
“Although none of the train was rescheduled, we had to change the timing because the in-bound trains arrived very late and the mandatory maintenance had to be carried out. If the problem becomes acute, we may have to reschedule the timings but our priority is to minimise the delay,” a spokesperson of the ECoR said.
Earlier, the ECoR had issued an advisory to the train operators to anticipate the problem of fog in northern India.
Train drivers were asked to avoid mishaps at any cost.