Cyclone Fani: Indian Railways to run special trains to clear extra rush of passengers

Railways has decided to run special trains to clear extra rush of passengers in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways has decided to run a special train for the convenience of passengers from Bhubaneswar to Bangalore in the aftermath of Cyclone Fani, which battered Odisha on Friday and left behind a trail of destruction and loss of several lives before entering West Bengal.

According to a release from the Indian Railways, a special train will run from Bhubaneswar to Bangalore for the convenience of the passengers this evening.

This special train with number 08463 will leave Bhubaneswar at 1900 hrs (07.00 PM) today and will reach Bangalore at 0135 hrs on May 6, 2019 (just after midnight of May 5, 2019).

This train has one AC-2 Tier, four AC-3 Tier, 11 Sleeper Class, four Second Class Seating and two Guard/Disabled & Luggage Van Coaches in its composition.

It will have stoppages at Khurda Road, Brahmapur, Palasa, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Duvvada, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Guntur, Nandayal, Guntakal and Dharmavaram between Bhubaneswar and Bangalore.

Meanwhile, the South Eastern Railway has also decided to run special trains towards South India and Goa. 

''In view of the gradual restoration of East Coast section from the scourge of severe cyclonic storm 'Fani' and to clear extra rush of passengers, South Eastern Railway has decided to run three Special Trains towards MGR Chennai Central, Yesvantpur and Goa from Howrah on 04.5.19,'' it said in a press release.

''The special trains will run in the original path, stoppages and scheduled timings of 12863 Howrah-Yesvantpur Express, 18047 Howrah-Vasco-da-Gama Amravathi Express and 12839 Howrah-Chennai Mail,'' a tweet from South Eastern Railway said.

Cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades, claimed four more lives in Odisha's Jajpur on Saturday taking the death toll to 15.

Earlier this morning, one more death was reported in Odisha's Bhadrak.

Cyclone Fani reached Bangladesh on Saturday several hours after it unleashed a trail of massive destruction claiming several lives in Odisha from where it entered West Bengal late on Friday.

After entering West Bengal, Cyclone Fani lashed towns and cities including Digha, Haldia, Tajpur, Mandarmani, Sandehskhali, Contai, Diamond Harbour, Bankura, Sriniketan, Asansol, Dumdum and Alipore.