NEW DELHI: Many long-distance trains running from major cities in north India through Uttar Pradesh suddenly ran empty on Saturday.
Several passengers, anticipating tensions after the Ayodhya case judgement, were said to have cancelled their tickets. Some trains, which had a waiting list status of up to 200 till Friday, suddenly saw seats being available on Saturday.
“We did not want to risk travelling through Uttar Pradesh. And moreover, the fares of Rajdhani tickets are as high as flight fares, sometimes higher. So we thought it was safer to travel by flight as the fares were similar but there’s added on safety,” said Jyoti Kumari, a resident of Hyderabad, who was scheduled to travel by the Bengaluru Rajdhani Express.