Mumbai: Ahead of CJP ’s planned protest in Delhi on Saturday, the railways, citing ‘road congestion’ in the national capital, cancelled and rescheduled many long-distance trains, leaving over 4,000 passengers in Mumbai stranded.
“While railway officials said they were cancelling trains in our interest due to expected congestion in Delhi, we were upset as train journeys are usually planned and booked in advance,” said Harish Subramanium, slated to travel to the capital from CSMT. Passengers expressed frustration. “Such last-minute cancellations are frustrating, whatever reason is given to justify the decision. We have no alternate transport as Delhi is a long distance, and almost all other trains are running full or with long waitlists. ”
“We came for the 5 pm train, but decided not to go back into the city as we would get stuck in evening peak-hour traffic,” said an elderly family member, requesting anonymity. One family scheduled on the Rajdhani Express ended up waiting nearly five hours inside the station premises following a rescheduling announcement. “The best option was to wait at the station, but that too was cumbersome. Our plans to reach Delhi early Saturday and have a full day to ourselves have been foiled. ” Railway officials maintained the measures were necessary to manage passenger safety and platform congestion in Delhi.