Passengers block train in Goa

Madgaon (Goa), June 3 : The heat of the Gujjar agitaion in Rajasthan was felt at the Madgaon railway station in far away Goa as the passenger's traveling by the Goa Sampark Kranti Express train sat on the tracks protesting against the train's diversion on Tuesday.

The departure of the train was delayed by two hours.

The passengers were agitated as all the passengers traveling by Goa Sampark Kranti Express were informed an hour before the journey that due to the ongoing Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan, the train would be diverted from Panvel station in Maharashtra and will lead to Hazarat Nizamuddin via Bhopal instead of Via Baroda in Gujarat.

"There are 150-200 people on the train. We want a confirmation of our reservation. If the authorities here do not confirm then we will have to face problem later. We still have 12 hour of journey left," said Sakirbhai, a train passenger.

The passengers set on the tracks and demanded that the train should at least be taken till Viraval.

"What we want to say is that don't put our passengers into trouble. There are aged people, there are patients, there are sick people, there are small children, infants, and there are ladies who cannot manage with the luggage. So what we are requesting is, there are about 600 passengers totally in this train. It is the starting point that is the reason people have opted for this train. Not only because it is going to Delhi but because it is the starting point from this portion," said Fernandez, a train passenger.

An intensified protest by the Gujjar's demanding reservations in jobs and educational institutions have hit rail traffic in Western region with many trains passing through Rajasthan being cancelled.

Railway authorities on Monday said that 27 trains passing through Rajasthan have been cancelled.

The agitation ongoing for the last 11 days has greatly inconvenienced the traveling people. On an average around three lakh passengers travel in trains in Rajasthan.

ANI