Anirudh Gupta and Neeraj bagga
Tribune News Service
Ferozepur / Amritsar, November 24
Parked for more than two months, train services resumed from Amritsar train station with mishaps on Tuesday.
Within 24 hours of the partial restoration of rail services in Punjab, members of the Kisan Majdoor Sangharsh Morcha (KMSM) blocked the railway at the Jandiala train station in Amritsar district on Tuesday morning.
As the Amritsar-Delhi railway line remained blocked near the Jandiala Guru railway station, 10 km from the holy city, the railway authorities diverted the main line trains to Beas and Tarn Taran to reach Amritsar.
Activists from the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Committee (KMSC) squatted on the tracks of the Jandiala Guru train station at 3 am. Sarwan Singh Pandher of the KMSC said his rail blockade entered the 62nd day on Tuesday.
Due to the protest, the Golden Temple Express route from Mumbai Central to Amritsar had to be diverted via Bias and Tarn Taran. In addition, a freight train had to be stopped at the Bhaktawala train station.
VP Singh, ADRM, said that KMSM members blocked the train track around 3.00am.
Read also: The Center calls on Punjab farmers for a second round of talks on December 3
“Members of the farmers union insisted that they would allow the trains to move only after checking the trains. We can’t do anything in a situation like this, ”Singh said.
Satnam Singh Pannu, president of KMSM, said that they will only allow the movement of freight trains in the state. “No passenger train will be allowed to move until the union government cancels the agricultural laws against farmers,” he said.
On Monday, a freight train, loaded with plaster, left Jammu and crossed Punjab at night on its way to Lucknow. Another empty BTPN (Gasoline Tank Car) was moved from Jalandhar to Delhi following a call from the farmers union to suspend the “Rail Roko” movement.
