Lucknow: Indian Railways has ordered the cancellation of all mail and express trains departing from their originating stations after 2pm on Friday and scheduled to reach New Delhi or Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations between 4am and 2pm on Saturday (Oct 10), citing anticipated severe road traffic congestion around the two stations.The directive, issued by the Railway Board’s coaching directorate on Friday, has led to the cancellation of several important trains connecting Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Varanasi and other parts of Uttar Pradesh with the national capital. Several return services from Delhi have also been cancelled.Northern Railway confirmed the cancellation of Lucknow Mail (12229) and Lucknow-New Delhi AC Superfast Express (12429), which were scheduled to depart from Lucknow on Friday. Services of these trains from Delhi (12230 and 12430) will also remain cancelled on Oct 10. Lucknow-New Delhi Gomti Express (12419) will remain cancelled on Oct 11.In addition, railways announced the cancellation of Kasganj-New Delhi Express (15303) and services of both Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas Express (train numbers 82501 and 82502), scheduled to operate on Saturday. The cancellation of Tejas, a premium train connecting the state capital with New Delhi, is expected to affect passengers travelling to and from Lucknow over the weekend.Northeastern Railway confirmed cancellation of Shiv Ganga Express (12559) and Banaras-New Delhi Superfast Express (12581), both originating from Varanasi. Their corresponding return services (12560 & 12582), scheduled for Saturday, have also been cancelled.While the Railway Board’s initial directive anticipated severe road congestion without specifying its cause, subsequent cancellation notices issued by the Moradabad railway division explicitly referred to the proposed protests in central Delhi and the accompanying traffic advisory.
