Rlys cancel several trains in wake of Fani

Kolkata: South Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway cancelled a number of trains on Friday considering the safety and security of the travelling passengers in view of the severe cyclonic storm Fani, which has already struck Odisha and is likely to hit Bengal late on Friday night.

The Howrah-Puri Sri Jagannath Express, Howrah-Yesvantpur Express, Howrah-Puri Express, Howrah-Chennai Mail, and Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express were cancelled on Friday. The Howrah-Bhubaneswar Jan Shatabdi Express and Bangriposi-Bhubaneswar Express scheduled on May 4 and the Santragachi-Tirupati Express scheduled on May 5 have also been cancelled by SER.

Meanwhile, Eastern Railway cancelled the Puri-Sealdah Duronto Express scheduled to leave Puri on Saturday and Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur Express scheduled to leave Muzaffarpur on Monday.

The Secunderabad-Guwahati Express scheduled to leave Secunderabad on May 5, Puri-Kamakhya Express scheduled to leave Puri on May 4 and Kamakhya-Secunderabad Special scheduled to leave Kamakhya on May 6, will all remain cancelled according to a statement by Eastern Railway.

Six local trains from Sealdah/Barasat to Hasnabad and four locals from Hasnabad to Sealdah/ Barasat were cancelled by ER authorities for the sake of passenger safety in view of the gust and heavy rainfall, as a precautionary measure.

A group of people obstructed train movement at Barasat station, protesting against cancellation of trains at around 4.10 pm. Normal services were resumed at 6.10 pm, when the obstructions were withdrawn. Four Sealdah-Bongaon locals had to be cancelled, while 16 locals (8 Up and 8 Down) lost punctuality.