Punjab: Hundreds of passengers vandalise Sirhind railway station after Chhath Puja special train got cancelled

After a special train scheduled to travel from Punjab to Bihar was cancelled, hundreds of passengers waiting for the train at Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib vandalised the railway station.

The special train, scheduled amid the upcoming Chhath Puja festival, was to run from Sirhind railway station to Katihar in Bihar.

According to PTI’s post on X, “Irate passengers reportedly pelted stones atSirhind Railway Station after a special train from Punjab to Bihar's Katihar was cancelled earlier today.”

According to video footage, hundreds of people gathered on the platform and the railway tracks. They picked up stones and threw them on the railway police and some parked passenger trains.

The passengers were supposed to travel home to celebrate the Chhath Puja, but due to the cancellation of the special train, they got agitated and started pelting stones at other trains. 

This incident occurred days after one person was killed and two were injured in a stampede in Gujarat's Surat in the rush to board a special train bound for Bihar.

The railways had announced several special trains to accommodate the additional rush of passengers during the Chhath Puja for the convenience of travelers.

Chhath Pooja will be celebrated from November 17-20 this year. 

Large numbers of people can be seen at several railway stations as they are heading back to their hometowns in Bihar, Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh for the Chhath Puja festival.

Earlier, the Indian railways  had announced to run 283 special trains in 4,480 trips this year during the Chhath Puja festival.

The East Central Railways had planned to operate 42 trips to Bihar ahead of Chhath Puja.

In a statement, the ministry of railways had mentioned that these special trains were planned to connect major destinations throughout the country on railway routes like Danapur-Saharsa, Okha-Naharlagun, Muzaffarpur-Yesvantpur, Howrah-Raxaul, Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri, Delhi-Patna, Delhi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, Kochuveli-Bengaluru, Danapur- Bengaluru, Puri-Patna, Benaras- Mumbai, Ambala-Saharsa, among others.