Trains between Howrah and Puri were among those disrupted because of a 12-hour strike by the Congress in Odisha on Monday.

Two express trains and five passenger trains from Howrah were cancelled and several others were rescheduled or detained at various stations because of the protest.

Train services remained paralysed between morning and noon in the Kharagpur-Bhadrak section and in the Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway. Services resumed around 12.30pm.

“The Howrah-Puri Duronto Express and Howrah-Bhubaneswar Janshatabdi Express were cancelled because the trains from Puri and Bhubaneswar, respectively, did not arrive,” said a spokesperson for the railway.

The Mumbai-bound Gitanjali Express left Howrah two hours late. The Jagannath Express reached Howrah four hours late.

The Howrah-Chennai Mail and Howrah-Hatia Express also left after a delay of three hours and an hour, respectively.