Bhubaneswar: Passengers faced significant inconvenience on Friday and Saturday as several premium trains, including Vande Bharat, Rajdhani Express, and Shatabdi, ran late. Sources attributed the delays to ongoing safety-related modernisation works in the Khurda Road railway division.
Details of Train Delays
The Amritsar-Visakhapatnam Hirakund Express (20808) reached Bhubaneswar on Friday at 6:16 PM, instead of its scheduled arrival at 2:20 PM. Similarly, the Rishikesh-Puri Kalinga Utkal Express (18478) was supposed to reach Puri at 3:25 AM on Saturday but arrived at 8 AM.
The New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (22824) was delayed by one hour and 44 minutes on Friday, reaching Bhubaneswar at 6:44 PM instead of its scheduled time of 5:30 PM. The Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express arrived at its destination around two hours late on Saturday.
Passenger Reactions
Chandrika Sahu, a resident of Nayagarh, said, “Hirakund Express was around four hours late on Friday. I reached home late due to the delay. Punctuality can improve with some reforms.”
Jitendra Suna, who lives in Acharya Vihar, commented, “If premium trains like Vande Bharat and Tejas Rajdhani get delayed, what can we expect from other express, intercity, and local trains?”
Official Statement
A spokesperson from East Coast Railway stated on Saturday that many trains are being delayed because of safety-related modernisation works at various railway sections, including Puri and Khurda Road.
