Railways cancels 81 strains; 2 diverted

New Delhi: After the alert that Cyclone Fani will make landfall on Friday across the east coast, taking a safety measures the Indian Railways announced the cancellation of 81 trains enroute to the segment in the phase from across the country.

Cancellation of trains will start from Thursday evening. According to a government release, train journey towards, Bhubaneswar/ Puri, East Coast Express and Coromondal Express from Howrah, trains towards Bangalore, Chennai, Secunderabad from Howrah and all trains touching Odisha (Bhubaneswar/Puri) have been restricted from late Thursday.

Besides, Bangalore-Guwahati Express and Hirakund Express (from Amritsar to Visakhapatnam) have been diverted. Further, in the view of extremely severe impact or aftermath of the cyclone forecasted by IMD, the rail board has decided to announce frequently at every important stations for sensitizing the passengers about cancellations.

The rail ministry has also decided the full refund of passengers for the cancelled or diverted trains "if the tickets are produced for cancellation within three days from scheduled departure of trains."

Moreover, dry food items, food meal, water bottle in sufficient quantity are to be made available at the catering stalls of all major stations.

"Due to dislocation of train services, the situation may warrant transshipment of passengers. Local transporters are to be contracted for hiring of road vehicles for meeting exigencies as and where necessary," the ministry statement mentioned. "Sufficient amount of cash must be available at major stations for granting refunds to passengers and meeting other exigencies," the ministry added.

Emergency control is operated round the clock with helpline number for guiding passengers.