Indian Railway : Railways canceled 42 passenger trains

In order to prioritize the movement of coal rakes across the country, the Railways has canceled 42 passenger trains to deal with critical supply shortfalls at thermal power plants. Of these, 40 trains will be canceled till May 24 and the remaining two will be restored till May 8.

The transporter has prioritized movement of coal rakes over the past few weeks. It has diverted 86 per cent of its open wagons of essential commodities to power plants. A railway spokesperson said that the total number of canceled trains is 40, which includes those canceled earlier. The total number of canceled trains is 1,081, which will remain canceled till May 24. He said that most of the affected trains (34) are in South East Central Railway zone.

While 26 mail and express trains have been affected due to power crisis, 16 passenger specials or MEMUs have been affected due to the focus on movement of coal. The central government expects power demand to pick up this month and hence wants to move as much coal as possible to power generation plants in various states.

The central government is worried about the power crisis arising again in front of the country after a gap of about six-seven months, but now the churning has started to get to the root of this problem. Last Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meeting for a permanent solution to the power crisis.