Power Crisis: Indian Railways cancels 42 trains till 24 May to increase coal supply

India is facing increased temperature and proportionately increasing power supply demands across the country. To fulfil this increasing demand for power generation, the country needs an uninterrupted coal supply. To facilitate this supply, the Indian government has cancelled 40 trains, consequently cancelling 1081 trips of express and passenger trains.

These trains have been cancelled till 24 May to facilitate the supply chain. The cancellation of trains is expected to free up routes for faster coal wagon movement, preventing a power outage. It will also ensure that coal from Chattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand is delivered quickly.

The railways had cancelled multiple trains earlier for a similar reason. Earlier, they said that this is an ‘interim measure’ and cancellations have taken place in non-priority sectors and less busy routes. Many passengers had to face inconvenience due to frequent cancellations during the summer break.

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Of the cancelled trips, 1041 are from the coal-rich South East Central Railway (SECR), while 40 are from Northern Railways. On April 29, the government of India cancelled over 600 trains to fulfil the supply of coal. A total of 533 coal rakes are put on duty. For the power sector, 427 rakes were loaded on April 28.

The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India said that coal obtained from imports is being pushed to priority sectors rapidly, owing to severe heatwave conditions in the country.

Here's the full list of cancelled trains:

In a conversation with ANI on April 29, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Director (Operations and BD), N Srinivas, spoke on the coal supply situation in India and said, "Whatever amount of coal is being imported and reaching Indian ports, we are moving it to priority sectors."