Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to the Lok Sabha has said that 1,879 trains were obstructed, resulting in losses of ₹36.87 crores across its 16 railway zones, due to agitations by farmers and "other organisations". This data was up to October 2021.
The Northern zone of the railways -- which is the largest in terms of route length (measured in kilometer) and five divisions: Ambala, Delhi, Ferozpur, Lucknow and Moradabad - saw the highest numbers of trains obstructed and losses incurred. 1,212 trains, or nearly 65% of the obstructions, were seen in this zone. 61% of the losses incurred, or ₹22.58 crores, were incurred in this zone. While regions around India saw protests against the three contentious farm laws that were repealed by Parliament on Monday, the agitation around the border with Delhi was the most prominent.
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The second most affected zone by the number of trains cancelled was the South Eastern zone with 125 trains cancelled, and ₹2.61 crores in losses. This railway zone covers the Ranchi, Adra, Chakradharpur and Kharagpur divisions. The second most affected zone in terms of losses was the Eastern Coast Division, with losses worth ₹6.8 crores caused by 91 trains obstructed. This zone consists nearly all of Odhisha, the Bastar and Dantewada districts of Chattisgarh and Vishakapatnam, Vizainagaram and Srikakulum districts in Andhra Pradesh.
The full data can be seen below.
This statement by the railway minister was in response to questions asked by Parthiban SR, Thirunavukkarasar Su and Vijaykumar (alias) Vijay Vasanth, who asked if trains were blocked by agitators and the losses incurred by the railways at the zone level.
Further, the reply also said that refunds for passengers who were traveling by trains that were disrupted, would be processed under Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Tickets and Refund of Fare) Rules, 2015.
Find the reply here.
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