(ET)
The railways has cancelled 42 passenger trains so far to facilitate coal freight movement in the wake of a power crisis in various parts of the country, causing inconvenience to people travelling to and from coal producing states such as Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The South East Central Railway (SECR) division that covers the coal producing regions has cancelled 34 passenger trains, while the Northern Railways (NR), the division that receives coal for many power stations in the north, has cancelled eight trains.
Some passengers services under the SECR like the Bilaspur-Bhopal train, which was suspended in March 28, will now remain in this status till May 3, while the MEMU between Maharashtra’s Gondia and Odihsa’s Jharsuguda stands cancelled from April 24 to May 23 and the Dongargarh-Raipur MEMU in Chhattisgarh from April 11 to May 24, according to official data.