Western Railways on Wednesday announced the cancellation of 40 trains and short termination of 28 trains as cyclone Vayu is expected to make landfall on the Western coast of Gujarat on Thursday.
The IMD said Tuesday Vayu has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and it is nearing the Gujarat coast.
"Considering the alertness for Cyclone Vayu over Gujarat, the Western Railway has decided to fully cancel operation of 40 mainline trains, while 28 other mainline trains will be short terminated with partial cancellation as a precautionary measure in the cyclone prone areas.
"In addition to this, various safety and security precautions are also being taken by the Western Railway for train passengers of these prone areas under the jurisdiction of WR -- Veraval, Okha, Porbandar, Bhavnagar, Bhuj and Gandhidham," the railways said.
Here is the full list of trains cancelled by the railways:
Western Railway has also decided to run special relief trains which are scheduled to run in Rajkot Division & one in Bhavnagar division to provide safe passage for passengers living in the coastal area.
"The 1st special train is scheduled to run from Okha at 18.00 hrs on 12/06/2019 for Rajkot with 11 coaches and the 2nd special train is scheduled to run from Okha at 20.05 on 12/6/2019 for Ahmedabad with 20 coaches. The 3rd special train will run from Veraval at 20.00 hours on 12/06/2019 for Ahmedabad with 11 coaches", the press release by the Western Railways stated.
A total of 68 trains have been affected due to precautionary measures taken by the western railways to ensure safety of the passengers.
The state government has launched a massive evacuation exercise to shift about three lakh people from low-lying areas of Saurashtra and Kutch regions.
The cyclone is expected to hit the Gujarat coast on Thursday morning, but several parts along the Maharashtra and Goa coast have been witnessing strong winds and rains.
(With PTI inputs)
