With the potential threat of cyclone Vayu looming large over Gujarat, the Western Railway has either cancelled, short-terminated or partially cancelled as many as 37 trains bound for various destinations in the neighbouring State as a precautionary measure.
In addition to the 15 trains cancelled earlier, the authorities on Wednesday evening cancelled 25 more mainline trains, while in addition to the earlier 16 trains, 12 other mainline trains will be short terminated with partial cancellation as a precautionary measure in the cyclone prone areas in the Western Railways.
“Accordingly, total 68 trains of Western Railways have been affected in view of the precautionary measures taken by us to safeguard the interests of the passengers,” a Western Railway spokesperson added.
The Mumbai-headquartered Western Railway geared up to tackle the impending situation, amid reports that parts of Gujarat would be hit by the impact from strengthening Cyclone Vayu, which is expected to hit the Gujarat coast anywhere between Veraval in the south and Dwarka in the west on Thursday afternoon.
All the passenger and Mail/Express trains to these stations are being short terminated or cancelled after 1800 hrs Wednesday to morning of June 14.
"The coaching stock currently available at depots and station yards at coastal areas are being shifted to safe places. Special trains with six to ten coaches each will be formed, to be kept in ready condition at nearest safe location to be moved in emergency conditions," a WR spokesperson said.
The Western Railway has made arrangements for round-the-clock monitoring of the situation at the emergency control room at its headquarters HQ and also at its Divisional offices by Officers of concerned departments for immediate relief arrangement.
“Considering the alertness for Vayu cyclone over Gujarat, Western Railway has decided to run relief special trains. Two such evacuation special trains are scheduled to be run in Rajkot Division and one in Bhavnagar division to clear passengers of coastal area affected by the Cyclone,” a WR spokesperson said.
The first special train is scheduled to run from Okha at 18.00 hrs on Thursday for Rajkot with 11 coaches, while the 2nd special train is scheduled to run from Okha at 20.05 on Thursday for Ahmedabad with 20 coaches. The 3rd special train will run from Veraval at 20.00 hours on Thursday for Ahmedabad with 11 coaches.
In addition to this, the authorities are taking various safety and security precautions for train passengers of these prone areas under the jurisdiction of the W4estern Railways.
