In the wake of the ongoing military conflict between India and Pakistan, the Indian Railways Friday ran five special trains, including a Vande Bharat train, to facilitate passengers in the border cities of Jammu, Udhampur and Pathankot.
Sources said that around 300 people associated with Indian Premier League () teams, including cricketers and supporting staff, took a special Vande Bharat train to reach .
On Thursday night, the IPL match between and in Dharamsala was called off after flood lights at the HPCA Stadium went off due to security reasons.
“Players and support staff of the took the Vande Bharat train from . After closure of airports in the border areas amid escalating India-Pakistan tension, the Railways ran special trains to facilitate cricketers and common passengers,” said the source.
Officials said that over 8,000 people travelled in these special trains to Delhi from these cities, which are facing multiple blackouts and threat of attacks from Pakistan.
“A special train with 12 unreserved and 12 reserved coaches was operated from Udhampur to Delhi via at 10.45 am Friday. A 20-coach Vande Bharat rake was operated at 12.45 pm from Udhampur to New Delhi via Jammu and Pathankot,” said a senior official of the Ministry of Railways.
A 22-coach reserved special train was operated from Jammu around 7 pm on Friday, the official said, adding that the Railways will run special trains on Saturday as per requirement.
“We have received several requests to run special trains from Jammu to facilitate the travel of people stranded there. Several people, who went to see the IPL match in Dharamshala, were facing difficulties in going to their destinations after the match was abandoned due to security reasons. Many of these passengers boarded the train from Pathankot,” said the official.
Meanwhile, there has also been an increase in the cancellation of tickets booked for Jammu. The trains going towards Jammu are currently somewhat empty. However, the number of people coming from Jammu has increased significantly, officials said.
Officials, however, said that there has not been any cancellation of trains so far. “The Railways operation has not been affected by the blackouts because we have our own grid system to run the trains. However, if any emergency arises, we have diesel locomotives. Along with this, all the railway stations at the border areas are being monitored in the war room at Railway Board level,” said the official.
