The Hindu : New Delhi News : Mumbai trains cancelled, flights grounded

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 02, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Mumbai trains cancelled, flights grounded

Staff Reporter

Several hundred passengers stranded

NEW DELHI: The incessant rain in Mumbai on Monday led to cancellation of all flights to the metro from Delhi and severely affected movement of trains as well.

As many as 80 Mumbai-bound flights were cancelled leaving several hundred passengers stranded at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

Flights were cancelled after the Civil Aviation Ministry instructed various airlines to curtail operations to and from Mumbai due to the bad weather and accumulation of water on the runway and other operational areas. As a result, Jet Airways that has its hub of operations at Mumbai said over 150 flights between Delhi and Mumbai would remain affected till Wednesday.

Similarly, the services of Indian Airlines that operates over two-dozen daily flights between the two metros were also badly affected, while Air Sahara had to cancel its 16 incoming and outgoing flights.

Flights of other private carriers including Kingfisher and Air Deccan remained grounded. These airlines have been asked to club their flights so that the maximum number of passengers can be accommodated in order to clear the huge backlog.

Train services also remained affected between Delhi and Mumbai as at least four trains were cancelled, while several others were running on diverted routes in order to avoid Mumbai and other flood affected areas. The cancelled trains are Dadar Express, Punjab Mail, Chennai Rajdhani and Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express, while trains rescheduled or running late include Howrah Janata Express, Poorva Express, Swatantrata Express, Kochuveli Sampark Express and Kaifiyat Express.

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