Several trains to and from Ayodhya, including the Vande Bharat Express which carries passengers from Delhi to the temple town, have been cancelled or diverted due to heavy track doubling and infrastructure work on the Lucknow-Barabanki-Ayodhya Cantt-Shahganj-Zafarabad section.
The movement of 36 trains will remain affected till January 22 due to the doubling of tracks on the section. This comes as lakhs of people are estimated to travel to Ayodhya for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of the Ram Mandir on January 22.
The doubling of tracks is part of Indian Railways’ broader initiative focused on improving the convenience and speed of train journeys towards Ayodhya. The work was expected to be done by January 20, but sources said it seems unlikely that the project will be done by the scheduled date.
The tracks currently have the capacity to undertake the movement of 40 trains. After the doubling work is completed, the movement could be increased to 80 trains on the same section.
Sources told India Today that earlier, the train diversions and cancellations were only until January 15, which has now been extended to January 22.
The section which is being repaired is a 161 kilometre rail line that was pegged to be doubled at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore. The revised sanctioned cost was pegged at Rs 1,790 crore, of which Rs 1,576 crore has been spent by December 2023. Further, Rs. 466 crore has been spent during the financial year 2023-24 on the Lucknow division going towards Ayodhya.
Here is the list of trains that were either partially cancelled or diverted from January 19 to January 22.
PARTIAL CANCELLATION
- 14205 Ayodhya Cantt.-Delhi Jn. Express
- 14206 Delhi Jn.-Ayodhya Cantt. Express
- 14231 Prayagraj Sangam-Basti Marwar Sangam Exp.
- 14232 Basti-Prayagraj Sangam Marwar Sangam Exp.
- 14233 Prayagraj Sangam-Mankapur Saryu Express
- 14234 Mankapur-Prayagraj Sangam Saryu Express
DIVERSION OF TRAINS
These trains are diverted via the Shahganj-Jaunpur junction and the Jaunpur City-Sultanpur-Lucknow junction.
- 12225 Azamgarh-Delhi Jn. Kaifiat Exp.
- 12226 Delhi Jn.-Azamgarh Kaifiat Exp.
- 14205 Ayodhya Cantt.-Delhi Jn. Express
- 14206 Delhi Jn.-Ayodhya Cantt. Express
- 14853 Varanasi City-Jodhpur Jn. Marudhar Express
- 14854 Jodhpur Jn.-Varanasi City Marudhar Express
- 15026 Anand Vihar(T.)-Mau Jn.- Express
- 15558 Anand Vihar(T.)-Darbhanga Jn. Amrit Bharat Express
- 19165 Ahmedabad Jn.-Darbhanga Jn. Sabarmati Express
- 19166 Darbhanga Jn.-Ahmedabad Jn. Sabarmati Express
- 19167 Ahmedabad Jn.-Varanasi City Sabarmati Express
- 19168 Varanasi City-Ahmedabad Jn. Sabarmati Express
- 22549 Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat Express
- 22550 Lucknow-Gorakhpur
The Indian Railways is gearing up to launch several new routes and trains from across India towards Ayodhya. This move is designed to accommodate the increasing number of passengers wishing to visit the temple city after January 22.
Detailed information and plans about trains for this route are ready and could be made public in the next few days, according to railway sources. Currently, 22 trains go to Ayodhya, allowing devotees from across the country to visit the Ram Mandir.