Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar November 24 Over 400 passengers of the 09025 Bandra Terminus-Amritsar were inconvenienced as their train arrived three hours behind the schedule at the Amritsar railway station on Tuesday owing to the blockade by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KSMC) members at the Jandiala Guru railway station. Alighting at the Amritsar railway station passengers sounded perturbed over unnecessary long travel and stoppage from the Beas due to the agitation. What perturbed them further was the 40-minute further delay in replacing the electric engine with diesel one as the rail section via Tarn Taran did not have an electric line. “The blockade unnecessarily prolonged the journey ordeal which involves a travel of nearly 1864 km” said Abhishek who has business ties in Mumbai. “The government and farmers must sit together to find a solution. Why put the common public at ransom without any fault of their?” he asked. Mahinder Singh a resident of Ajnala who was coming from Delhi said his father was into farming as it was their ancestral vocation. “Agitators must find a suitable way to protest which does not inconvenience common people. The matter concerns the Union Government and agitators must employ peaceful and effective means to alert them of their demand.” Manmohan Singh a senior citizen from Bhakna village on the Amritsar-Attari GT Road said he had gone to meet his son employed with a private bank in Mumbai in March. First Covid-19 induced restrictions and now agitation by farmers held him back to return to his native place. He said the Union Government must lend an ear to the agitating farmers as the farming laws were enacted for this section only. Farmers should have been taken into confidence he said. Prabhjot Singh a passenger said the railways offered good service during the journey but about 40 minutes were consumed in replacing the electric engine with diesel one. The district administration arranged tea and biscuits for the passengers at the departure lounge of the railway station. Rajesh Aggarwal Divisional Railway Manager said the alternate route via Beas Tarn Taran and Bhagtanwala has single line section where train cannot be operated beyond 50 km per hour speed. Besides it does not have power supply cable whereas the Amritsar railway station was well connected with power lines. So the Railways had to cancel trains to decrease load on the section. Three passenger and equal number of freight trains arrived at the local railway station.

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