Railways cancel, divert 53 trains due to Delhi floods

NEW DELHI - Indian Railways Saturday cancelled or diverted 53 trains, including several short-distance services, as several low-lying areas in and around the national capital were inundated as the Yamuna kept swelling.

According to the Northern Railway, among the long-distance trains cancelled or diverted were Kalka Mail, Lal Quila Express, Satyagraha Express, Farakka Express, Howrah Janata Express, Garib Nawaz Express, Shalimar Express and Shaheed Express.

“Many of the trains were cancelled or diverted due to the closure of Old Yamuna Bridge for rail and road traffic,” an official spokesperson for Northern Railway said, adding some services that had started their journey were terminated ahead of the capital.

The official said it was decided to terminate the Kolkata-Delhi Lal Quila Express at Khurja in Uttar Pradesh. The Howrah-Delhi Janta Express train would be terminated at Hathras, also in Uttar Pradesh.

Both these trains will resume their return services from the terminated stations.

As the water level in the Yamuna reached 206.66 meters Saturday morning, almost 2 metres above the danger mark of 204.83 meters, the capital’s Department of Irrigation and Flood Control decided to close the vintage rail-cum-road double-decker iron bridge.

Vehicular traffic was diverted to other roads.