Patna: Dense fog sweeping across large parts of north India brought rail and air traffic to a crawl in Bihar on Thursday, with the state’s fastest train, the Tejas Rajdhani Express, arriving in Patna more than 11 hours behind schedule and several flights cancelled or delayed.
The 12310 Tejas Rajdhani reached Patna Junction 11 hours and 21 minutes late, the worst delay among at least 10 long-distance trains affected by reduced visibility. Other major services, including the Sampoorna Kranti, Magadh and Amrit Bharat Express, were also delayed by several hours, leaving passengers stranded at stations in biting cold conditions.
According to railway officials, dense fog along multiple sections of the network forced trains to run at restricted speeds for safety reasons. At Rajendra Nagar Terminal, Patna Junction, Patliputra station and Danapur, passengers waited for hours in open platforms as late-running trains trickled in through the fog.
The worst-affected services included the Sampoorna Kranti Express, delayed by over seven hours, the Magadh Express by nearly eight hours, and the Amrit Bharat Express by more than nine hours. The Vikramshila Express, Brahmaputra Mail and Farakka Express were also significantly behind schedule.
Air travel was similarly disrupted. Two pairs of flights on the Bengaluru and Hyderabad routes were cancelled outright, while at least six arriving flights and 11 departures from Patna were delayed by up to two hours. Visibility in the city dropped to around 800 metres on Thursday morning, affecting landing and take-off schedules.
The first arriving flight of the day landed three minutes late, while a Delhi-bound departure was delayed by 22 minutes. Flights from Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Kolkata recorded delays ranging from half an hour to more than two hours, airport officials said.
Passengers at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport were seen huddling against cold westerly winds as delays mounted. Although seating was available inside the terminal, the prolonged waiting times and persistent chill made conditions uncomfortable.
Meteorologists said cold westerly winds combined with dense fog were likely to continue affecting visibility across Bihar, raising the prospect of further disruption to rail and air services in the coming days.
