Indian Railways train services resume after peaceful blockade

Services have now been restored and trains are being operated smoothly.

The ‘rail roko’ agitation by farmer union Samyukta Kisan Morcha on Thursday which disrupted railway operations throughout the country, has passed off peacefully, without any untoward incident. The protest was announced by the SKM, the umbrella body of farmer unions spearheading the agitations against the Centre’s three contentious farm laws.

A railway statement issued said the ‘rail roko’ passed off with negligible or minimal impact on running of the trains across the country.” Services have now been restored and trains are being operated smoothly.

Earlier in the day, trains were stopped in various parts of the country as farmers gathered at railway stations and blocked tracks as part of a four-hour nationwide protest to pressurise the government to repeal the new agriculture laws. Farmers sat on railway tracks at many places in Punjab and Haryana and protests were also seen at stations in Kolkata.

A small group of farmers also staged a protest at the Yeshwanthpur railway station in Bengaluru. The railway blockade was the third major demonstration by farmers, following the Republic Day tractor rally and the ‘chakka jam’ on February 6.