Indian Railways extends services of few weekly special trains

New Delhi: The Indian Railways has decided to extend the services of few weekly special trains because of the inconvenience caused due to dense fog in the national capital region.

The services of train number 08617, Anand Vihar Terminal-Ranchi weekly special, have been extended with existing composition, timings, stoppages and days of service to run from January 6 to January 27 (on every Saturday), while train number 08618 Anand Vihar Terminal-Ranchi weekly special train will be extended to run from January 7 to January 28 (on every Sunday), ANI reported.

Meanwhile, intense cold wave swept through the northern belt with the mercury going several degrees below freezing point in Kashmir and a thick blanket of fog enveloping Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.

Six flights were cancelled and over 60 delayed due to fog at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday morning, PTI reported. Nearly 40 domestic and 26 international flights were among those delayed. 

According to the India Meteorological Department, general visibility improved to 200 metres at IGI as compared to zero metres the past two days. The runway visual range (RVR) was between 800-1000 metres early this morning. This is also an improvement, as RVR was in the range of 50-100 metres in the last two days.

Take-offs at IGI require a minimum RVR of 125 metres and landings can take place with a minimum RVR of 50 metres.

Trains were also hit on Tuesday due to fog. 64 trains were delayed and 21 cancelled while 24 were rescheduled, according to the spokesperson for the Northern Railways.

(With Agency inputs)