More than 500 trains, hundreds of flights impacted by dense fog

267 trains cancelled and five flights diverted as cold wave takes its toll

The severe cold wave in large parts of North India continued to cripple rail and air movement on Monday, impacting over 400 trains and hundreds of flights.

Marking the second consecutive day of disruption in railway services, 267 trains had been cancelled while 170 trains were running late on Monday, the railways ministry said. Eighty-two of the 267 cancelled trains were mail and express trains, while 56 were cancelled purely on account of dense fog that blanketed several parts of the country, leading to poor visibility for locomotive and airline pilots.

As many as 180 passenger and local trains also had to be cancelled, besides one parcel train (used for transportation of goods). The ministry cited 91 train delays on account of bad weather.

Last year, over 4,000 trains were impacted by inclement weather during the winter months.

Meanwhile, five flights were diverted and over a hundred were delayed at Delhi airport on a murky Monday. Low visibility flight procedures were initiated as the runway visual range fluctuated between 125 and 300 metres from 1 am to 10 am.

Delhi airport’s three runways are equipped with the CAT III instrument landing system that allows an aircraft to land when there is minimum visibility of 50 metres or take off with a visibility of 125 metres. The airport’s taxiway and aircraft parking stands, too, are equipped for CAT III operation, Delhi International Airport Limited said.

Five flights run by Air India, Air India Express and SpiceJet were diverted to Jaipur.

At Chandigarh airport, a few early morning departures were delayed by up to two hours due to fog. Visibility improved by around 8.30 am and there had been no cancellations or diversions from Chandigarh, airport director Rakesh Ranjan Sahay said.