Protest against Agnipath: 340 train services were affected, 94 Mail Express and 140 Passenger Trains cancelled

NEW DELHI: As many as 340 train services were affected on Friday due to the ongoing protest against the Agnipath recruitment scheme launched by the Centre.

The Agnipath Scheme was launched by the Union Defence Ministry on Tuesday with the intent to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces and provide a fresh lease of 'Josh' and 'Jazba' whilst at the same time bringing about a transformational shift towards a more tech-savvy Armed Forces.

As per the latest reports by the Railways Ministry, 94 Mail Express and 140 Passenger Trains have been cancelled, whereas 65 Mail Express and 30 Passenger Trains have been partially cancelled to run in the country.

The Railways have also decided to divert the route of 11 Mail Express trains for tomorrow.

As per an official statement by the Northern Railways, 12 trains which were scheduled to commence on June 17-- Kamakhya-Bhagat Ki Kothi Express (15624), Darbhanga-New Delhi Bihar Sampark Kranti Express (12565), Raxual-Anand Vihar Terminal Satyagrah Express (15273), Saharsa-New Delhi Special (02563), Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express (12273), Jaynagar-Anand Vihar Terminal Garib Rath Express (12435), Dibrugarh-Lalgarh Avadh Assam Express (15909), Alipurdwar-Delhi Jn. Mahananda Express (15483), Kamakhya-Anand Vihar Terminal North East Express (12505), Bhagalpur-Anand Vihar Terminal Vikramshila Express (12367), Varanasi-Patna Special Express (03289), and Varanasi-Barkakana Special Express (03360)-- have been cancelled due to the protests.

Apart from this, another train Bhagat Ki Kothi Kamakhya Express, bearing the number 15623, which was earlier scheduled to start its journey on June 21 has also been cancelled.

During the protest, which remained active for a third day today, several trains in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana were vandalised and torched by the agitators demanding immediate withdrawal of the recruitment scheme.