KARACHI, Jan 20: People seeking information about arrivals and departures of trains at the city and the cantonment railway stations are faced with severe problems as fog in the interior of Sindh and the upcountry has disrupted the schedules.

The passengers have been forced to wait as the departure timings of trains are being delayed, while the trains which leave the city early in the morning are not being given green signals unless the haze disappears.

Similarly, those who want to receive their dear ones at the stations have to wait for a long time as the incoming trains are late for three to 12 hours.

Besides, the inquiry telephone numbers at both the stations remain constantly busy.

“I continuously found the number busy and had to go to the station to receive my family, coming from Punjab by the Allama Iqbal Express. Its scheduled timing of arrival was 6:30am but it reached here at around 6:50pm,” said Salman Qasim, who was at the Cantt Station to receive his family.

Many passengers, intending to board the Allama Iqbal Express which leaves the city at 3pm, had no choice but to wait till it departed at around 10pm.

Almost all the incoming trains were getting late, delaying, in return, their departure timings.

A railway official said that the disturbance in the schedules had resulted due to late arrival of trains from upcountry.

The trains could not run amidst heavy fog to avoid any eventuality. He said people had been continuously contacting the railway inquiry telephone numbers due to which the numbers remained busy.