Bhubaneswar: As the extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘FANI’ inches closer towards mainland, evacuation has begun in full swing. Indian Railways Thursday announced a special train to aid evacuation of stranded tourists from Puri – the most likely location of landfall.
The East Coast Railway (ECOR) wing of Indian Railways has said that it will run the special train with reserved and unreserved berths from Puri at 12:00pm on Thursday for swift evacuation of tourists.
It will have stoppages at Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur, Kendujhar road, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur. The train will reach Bhubaneswar at about 1:30pm. It will go towards Shalimar in Kolkata.
This train will have general, sleeper, 3A and 2A coaches.
A special help desk at Puri railway station has also been set up to guide passengers.
It may be mentioned here that at least 81 trains have been cancelled by ECoR in the state in view of the storm. The passengers have been advised to plan their travel accordingly.
Train services between Bhadrak and Andhra Pradesh’s Vizianagaram have been suspended starting Thursday and inward trains towards Bhubaneswar and Puri will be restricted from Thursday evening.
This apart, the East Coast Express and Coromondal Express will not run from Howrah starting Thursday. Puri bound trains from Howrah on Thursday night have also been cancelled.