Coal Shortage: Over 650 Passenger Trains to be Cancelled; Power Supply to Delhi Metro, Govt Hosps May Get Hit

The Indian Railways has planned to cancel over 650 passenger trains to allow for faster movement of coal carriages as the nation scrambles to replenish depleting inventories at power plants in a bid to avoid a full-blown power crisis. Protests against power cuts erupted outside Punjab Power Minister Harbhajan Singh’s residence on Friday.

Sources from the Railways told CNBC-TV18 that 657 passenger trains, including 500 mail and express train trips and 148 commuter train trips, are to be cancelled to prioritise movement of coal rakes. The Railways has also planned to increase the passage of coal rakes over the next two months.

“The measure is temporary and passenger services will be restored as soon as the situation normalizes,” said Gaurav Krishna Bansal, an executive director at Indian Railways, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. The state-run operator is trying to minimize the time it takes to move coal to power plants, he said.

Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday that as the whole country is facing power issues due to coal shortage, and there is no back up, the better solution to tackle the crisis would be for the Centre to provide more coal. He said power cannot be stored and there is not enough coal in Delhi for the next 21 days