Indian Railways Delhi-Una Janshatabdi 1st passenger train to depart for Punjab in nearly 2 months; details

With Indian Railways resuming train services in Punjab, the New Delhi-Una Janshatabdi Express became the first passenger train to depart for the state almost after two months. The train left the capital on Monday afternoon with as many as 559 passengers on board, according to officials quoted in a PTI report. In Punjab since 24 September 2020, Indian Railways’ train services were suspended when the farmers started protesting against the new farm laws converged on railway stations and rail tracks. On Saturday, the national transporter had said it would soon resume passenger and goods trains in the state of Punjab after the farmers decided to allow the train services and the Punjab state government communicated that the railway tracks were clear.

The Northern Railway zone has announced the resumption of 25 trains, while the North Central Railway zone has announced the restoration of six trains. The Janshatabdi train has as many as 385 passengers who will de-board in Chandigarh, followed by 23 passengers in Mohali, six passengers each at Kharar and Morinda, 36 passengers will de-board at Rupnagar, four passengers at Kiratpur Sahib, nine passengers will de-board at Anandpur Sahib, and 27 passengers at Nangal Dam railway stations in Punjab. While, a total of 63 people will de-board at Una Himachal railway station, according to Northern Railway officials.

Earlier, Indian Railways had said that it made plans to resume train services to the region, provided they had a security clearance. Recently, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had announced that the national transporter is going to start rail services through Punjab and (in) Punjab from 23 November 2020, after the halt of the farmer agitation on railway tracks and railway stations in the state. According to Goyal, farmers, passengers and industries will benefit from the removal of the impasse in operations of train services for the last several days. Due to the blockade, Indian Railways has said to suffer a loss of Rs 2,220 crore, the report added.