Fani: Special train for stranded tourists in Odisha

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Bhubhaneshwar: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to run a special train from Puri to Shalimar on Thursday for tourists in view of the landfall of cyclonic storm Fani on the Odisha coast.

The train is scheduled to leave Puri at 12 noon on Thursday. It will make stoppages at Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur, Keonjhar Road, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur, said an ECoR official.

Equipped with General, Sleeper, 3A and 2A coaches, the special train will have both reserved and unreserved classes. It will reach Bhubaneswar around 1.30 p.m.

The railways have cancelled 103 trains in view of the cyclonic storm, which is likely to hit Odisha coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali on May 3 evening.

Cyclone Fani, which has turned into an "extreme severe cyclonic" storm, is located around 225 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam and around 430 km south-southwest of Puri, said the India Meteorological Department.

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