— Photo courtesy: Rajasthan Patrika

ON THE WARPATH: Gujjars removing the rail track at Sawaimadhopur station, which is on the Jaipur-Bombay line, on Thursday. (right) A view of Jagpura police checkpost at Vigyan Nagar in Kota, which is on fire.

NEW DELHI: Rail traffic remained disrupted for the second consecutive day on Thursday in Rajasthan due to the agitation by the Gujjar community demanding Scheduled Tribe status.

The movement of many trains between Delhi and various destinations in Rajasthan was badly affected.

Railway officials said 26 trains passing through the State, including the Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express and the Delhi-Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express, were cancelled and one train rescheduled in the interest of passenger safety.

They said the prime reason for suspension of traffic on this sector was to prevent damage to railway property. "We understand the problems caused to the travelling public but we are helpless as the situation is still very tense in this region. Until calm is restored, it will not be possible to operate railway services in certain areas of Rajasthan," a senior official said.

Movement hindered

According to a Northern Railway release, rail traffic between the Capital and Rajasthan remained affected as agitators hindered the movement of trains.

Some of the trains that have been cancelled are the Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Porbander Express; the Delhi-Junction-Ahmedabad Ashram Express; and the Delhi Junction-Jaisalmer Express. The Bareilly-New Bhuj Ala Hazrat Express will be terminated at Rewari; the Mumbai Central-Forezepur Cantt Janata Express scheduled to reach Ferozepur has been diverted to run via Ratlam-Bhopal-Jhanasi-Agra Cantonment.

Violence unabated

The situation has shown no signs of improvement with two persons being killed and five others injured in police firing when protesters indulged in arson at Bonli in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district on Thursday.

The decision to cancel and reschedule trains was taken following a high-level meeting by the Railway Board officials.

Train movement in the North Zone, North Western Zone, West Central zone and North Central Zone was severely affected by the agitation. Northern Railway cancelled 12 trains, followed by North-Western Railway with seven, Western Railway with four and North Central Railway with two. West Central Railway cancelled one train.

The Nizamuddin-Indore Express; New Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express; Nizamuddin-Bandra Sampark Kranti Express; and Jammu-Tawi-Jaipur Pooja Express were the other trains cancelled by Northern Railway, which also rescheduled the Nizamuddin-Ahmedabad Sampark Kranti Express.

North Western Rly.

The seven trains cancelled by the North Western Railway are: the Jodhpur-Marudhar Express; Jodhpur-Banares Marudhar Express; Jaipur-Gwalior Express; Udaipur-Nizamuddin Mewar Express; Amritsar-Jaipur Express; Ajmer-New Delhi Shatabdi Express; and Jaipur-Sealdah Express.

The Western Railway cancelled four trains included the Ahmedabad-Haridwar Mail; Mumbai-Nizamuddin August Kranti Express; Bandra-Nizamuddin Garib Rath; and Ahmedabad-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.

The North Central Railway cancelled the Mathura-Lucknow Express and Gwalior-Jaipur Express. The lone train cancelled by the Central Railway was the Nizamuddin-Kota Jan Shatabdi.

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