Violent protests over Citizenship Act severely affects train services in Assam

The violent protests over the Citizenship Act in Assam has severely affected the rail services in the state with the Indian Railways on Friday announcing the cancellation, partial cancellation, diversion and rescheduling of trains. The Chief Public Relations Officer, Deepak Kumar, announced the list of trains whose services have been affected.

The protests over the Act rocked Assam even as tension gripped Tripura and Meghalaya despite assurances by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the Bill will not harm the interests of the people of the northeast. The Act will give Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zorastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019, was passed in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (December 11) with 125 votes in favour and 99 against it. Earlier the Bill was passed in Lok Sabha with a thumping majority on December 9.

Here are the details:

Cancellation of trains:

* The 15910 Lalgarh-Dibrugarh Awadh Assam Express train, Journey Commencing on 13.12.2019 & 14.12.2019 will remain cancelled.

* The 15956 Delhi Jn.-Dibrugarh Brahmaputra Mail, Journey Commencing on 13.12.2019 & 14.12.2019 will remain cancelled.

* The 15934 Amritsar-Dibrugarh Express train, Journey Commencing on 13.12.2019 will remain cancelled.

* The 15904 Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express train, Journey Commencing on 15.12.2019 will remain cancelled.

* The 14020 Anand Vihar T.-Agartala Tripura Sundari Express train, Journey Commencing on 16.12.2019 will remain cancelled.

* The 20504 New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express train, Journey Commencing on 17.12.2019 will remain cancelled.

Partial cancellation of trains:

* The 20501 Agartala-Anand Vihar T. Rajdhani Express, Journey Commencing on 16.12.2019 will short Originate from New Bongaigaon Jn. and will remain partially cancelled between Agartala - New Bongaigaon Jn.

* The 20505 Dibrugarh - New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Journey Commencing on 16.12.2019 will short Originate from New Jalpaiguri and will remain partially cancelled between Dibrugarh-New Jalpaiguri.

* Temporary diversion/regulation/rescheduling of trains due to traffic block on Moradabad-Bareilly Section on December 1. Due to 5 hours traffic and OHE block for provision of Electronic Interlocking at Parsakhera station on Moradabad-Bareilly section on December 16, the following trains will be affected as under:-

Diversion of Trains:

* Train No. 15910 Lalgarh-Dibrugarh Avadh Assam Express Journey Commencing on 15.12.2019 will be diverted to run via Moradabad-Chandausi-Bareilly Cantt.

* Train No. 15211 Dibrugarh-Amritsar Express Journey Commencing on 15.12.2019 will be diverted to run via Moradabad-Chandausi-Bareilly Cantt.

Rescheduling of Trains

* Train no. 12358 Amritsar-Kolkatta Express Journey Commencing on 16.12.2019 will depart from Amritsar at 06.55 a.m. instead of 05.55 a.m.
* Train No. 14258 New Delhi-Varanasi Kashi Vishwanath Express Journey Commencing on 16.12.2019 will depart from New Delhi at 12.35 p.m. instead of 11.35 a.m.

Regulation of Trains

* Train no. 12392 New Delhi-Rajgir Sharamjeevi Express will be regulated for 30 minutes enroute in Moradabad Division.

In Assam, the internet services were snapped in several places and the suspension has been extended in for 48 hours beginning Thursday noon, said Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Political), Kumar Sanjay Krishna. An indefinite curfew has also been imposed in Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Barpeta, Nalbari, Jorhat, Golaghat, Sonitpur, Tezpur and Biswanath. All schools and colleges have been closed till December 22, 2019. Four people have lost their lives due to the violence since Monday (December 9).