Gujjar agitation leads to cancellation of trains

Rail traffic between New Delhi and various destinations in Rajasthan remained disrupted on Sunday due to the ongoing violent agitation by the Gujjar community demanding Scheduled Tribe status.
 
Railway officials said at least seven trains passing through Rajasthan, including the Amritsar-Mumbai Golden Temple Mail and Nizamuddin-Bandra Garib Rath Express, were cancelled in the interest of passengers safety.
       
The prime reason for suspension of traffic on this section was to prevent damage to railway property.
       
The train services have been stopped due to the agitation by Gujjar Samaj Mahapanchayat Samiti and largescale public disturbance between Gangapur City-Bayana section in Kota Division, a Northern Railway statement said.
       
"The situation is 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 Northern Railway official said.

The other trains that have been cancelled are the Dehradun-Bandra Nimach Link Express, Nizamuddin-Udaipur Intercity Expresss, Nizamuddin-Indore Intercity Express, Nizamuddin-Mumbai August Kranti Express and Firozpur-Mumbai Janta Express.
      
Train movement on other section were also badly affected by the agitation. Several other trains, most of them Rajdhani Express trains, were diverted to other routes.
       
The trains that have been diverted include the New Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express, Nizamuddin  Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express, Amritsar-Bandra Paschim Express, Jammu Tawi-Jamnagar Super Fast, Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Thiruvananthapuram-H Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express, Amritsar-Bandra Paschim Express and Bandra-Jammu Tawi Swaraj Express.