Patna: A thick blanket of fog engulfed the entire Delhi-Kanpur-Prayagraj-DDU mainline route on Saturday, severely disrupting train services between New Delhi, Patna and other cities in Bihar. All mail and express trains operating on these routes were delayed by several hours, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at stations. The dense fog, which began to settle in the early morning hours, reduced the visibility to less than 50 meters, forcing the North Central Railway to adjust the speed of trains for safety reasons. The low visibility also caused several trains to come to a halt on tracks further compounding the delays, sources said. While the Delhi-Rajendra Nagar Terminal Tejas Rajdhani Express (12310) was delayed by 1 hour and 45 minutes, the New Delhi-Rajendra Nagar Terminal Sampoorna Kranti Express (12310) reached 1 hour and 15 minutes late. “The New Delhi-Rajgir Shramjeevi Express (12392) was delayed by 2 hours and the New Delhi-Islampur Magadh Express (20802) got delayed by 4 hours,” Danapur control room sources said. Manoj Kumar, who was travelling with his family on Shramjeevi Express, faced hardship due to the train’s delay. Rajiv Sinha, travelling by Magadh Express, echoed similar feelings after arriving at Patna Junction. According to the Samastipur control room sources, the Delhi-Jaynagar Swatantrata Senani Express (12562) was delayed by seven hours and the Delhi-Katihar Champaran Hamsafar Express (15706) was delayed by nine hours. While the New Delhi-Saharsa Vaishali Express (12554) was late by five hours, the New Delhi-Darbhanga special (02570) got delayed by eight hours. This weather-induced disruption came when a large number of people were returning to their native places in Bihar during winter break, said Sandeep of Muzaffarpur, who was travelling by Vaishali Express on Saturday.
