For the second day, services to and from Andhra Pradesh remained paralysed owing to cyclonic weather conditions and flooding of track at many places between Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in South Central Railway.
Southern Railway had to reschedule or cancel services owing to delayed arrival of incoming trains. Train No.2842 Coromandel Express to Howrah, No.2656 Navajivan Express to Ahmedabad and No.2712 Pinakini Express to Vijayawada, which were scheduled to leave Chennai on Friday, were cancelled.
As trains were diverted at many points between Vijayawada and Ongole in South Central Railway, trains scheduled to arrive in Chennai on Friday reached hours behind schedule.
The administration was not sure of the exact time of arrival of major trains such as the G.T. Express and Tamil Nadu Express from New Delhi. So their departure was also delayed by several hours. Even the special train, announced by Southern Railway, for taking the stranded passengers to Howrah, was delayed by more than nine hours.
Rescheduled
The following trains were rescheduled on Friday: No.2433 Chennai Central – H. Nizzamuddin Rajdhani Express, No.2842 Coromandel Express to Howrah, No. 2615 G.T. Express and 2621 Tamil Nadu Express to New Delhi.
“We can only give tentative departure time for these trains. The exact time will be announced only after the arrival of incoming trains,” said a railway official here.
The administration urged passengers to contact the following numbers to know the current position of train timings: 044 - 2533 0717, 044 - 2534 6031, 044- 6450 2415, 044-2533 0653, and 044-2533 0710.
