Train schedules go haywire, people wait at Pune railway station for over 7 hrs

Rajasthan gujjars, Delhi fog keep city travellers waiting

Train schedules go haywire, people wait at Puneu00a0railway station for over 7 hrs

Until last morning, engineering student Vipin Yadav and his friends never gave a second thought to newspaper headlines that reported about the fog in New Delhi. After waiting at the Pune railway station for seven-and-half hours for a train that got delayed because of the fog, Yadav has vowed to be more attentive in future when it comes to such news.

The engineering student from DY Patil Engineering College, who was leaving for New Delhi with five others for a vacation post their semester exams, had to wait.

Hordes of passengers, who were to leave by the Duronto Express, were seen sprawled out on the platforms on mats or blankets as they were caught unawares by the long delay. In fact, Duronto Express was just one of the delayed trains. Other trains like the Jhelum Express and Goa Express were also running behind schedule by three to four hours.

MBA student Sakshi Jaitley, who was heading to Goa's Sunburn Festival on the Goa Express, hoped she could make it on time.

"The train was supposed to leave at 4 pm but they just announced it has been delayed by three hours.
u00a0
Tomorrow is the last day of the fest. I hope I am not too tired by this delay and I can have fun," she said.

Another couple, Varadh and Shweta Bharagav, who were to travel on the same train also complained of the delay.

"I think it is something to do with the fog in New Delhi and I know such things are not in our control, but it dampens theu00a0mood even before we have started on our vacation," said Varadh.

Suhas Lohokare, public relations officer of Pune division, said that train services to New Delhi had been
affected for the past two to three days.

"Besides the delay of three to four hours of the three trains operating daily, weekly trains such as Swarnajayanti Express, Nizamuddin Express and Sampark Express are also running late. There is an (Gujjar) agitation going on in Rajasthan which is a reason, but main reason is the fog in New Delhi," said Lohokare.

Flight delayed too
The Air India flight to Delhi, scheduled to fly at 6 pm took off at 9.30 pm. Chinmai Ghosal, the on-duty manager at the airport, said: "There were about 10 flights going and coming from Delhi. Only A-I was delayed by three-and-half hours because of the fog."