Bhubaneswar: Train services to and from Puri were disrupted on Saturday, with several regular and Rath Yatra special trains running late by three to 11 hours, causing inconvenience to passengers travelling to the pilgrim town. Railways has introduced several special trains for Rath Yatra, but many of them were delayed amid heavy traffic towards Puri. Passengers said the delays upset their travel plans, especially those visiting the town for Suna Besha. The Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express arrived in Puri one hour and 33 minutes late while the Rourkela-Puri Vande Bharat Express reached Puri at 12.28 am on Saturday instead of its scheduled arrival at 9.40 pm on Friday, a delay of two hours and 48 minutes.
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The Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express was delayed by eight hours and 47 minutes. It was scheduled to reach Puri at 10.10 pm on Friday but arrived at 6.57 am on Saturday.“I boarded the Durg-Puri Express from Raipur at 9.07 pm on Friday instead of its scheduled time of 4.55 pm. The train reached Puri around 5 pm instead of 9.30 am. Children get restless because of such long delays. We were excited to see Suna Besha, but the delay spoiled our plans,” said Biswajit Sahu, a passenger from Raipur.The Kalinga Utkal Express reached Puri 11 hours late on Saturday. The train had run 16 hours and 30 minutes behind schedule on Friday. The Shalimar-Puri Superfast Express, Sealdah-Puri Duronto Express and Shalimar-Puri Jagannath Express were running around two hours late.The Shalimar-Puri Superfast Express was delayed by four hours. The Hatia-Puri Tapaswini Express reached Puri at 10.21 am instead of its scheduled arrival at 6.55 am. The Kamakhya-Puri Express was delayed by four hours and 30 minutes. On Friday, the Lokmanya Tilak-Puri Express from Mumbai reached Puri at 7.07 pm, delayed by 10 hours and 32 minutes. The Durg-Puri Express was running seven hours late. Several local and Rath Yatra special trains also faced major delays.The Bhadrak-Puri special train reached Puri at 6.49 am instead of 3.55 am, delayed by nearly three hours. The train had reported a similar delay on Friday. The Keonjhar-Puri MEMU special was delayed by three hours and 40 minutes, reaching Puri at 8.45 am instead of 5.05 am. The Talcher-Puri MEMU was delayed by five hours and 33 minutes, while the Angul-Puri MEMU reached Puri three hours late. The Bhanjpur-Puri train was delayed by three hours and 49 minutes, and the Sonepur-Puri Express reached Puri four hours and 35 minutes behind schedule.A railway official said the number of trains operating to Puri was much higher than the station’s handling capacity, particularly as the station is undergoing redevelopment. “Trains are being regulated at Khurda Road and other stations between Khurda Road and Puri to ensure smooth movement. Only after a train departs from Puri station is the next waiting train allowed to enter. This process is leading to delays,” the official said.
