BENGALURU: Fed up with the daily delays of their passenger train at the level crossing gate near Karmelaram railway station, hundreds of irate passengers onboard the Dharmapuri-Bengaluru DEMU train on Thursday vented their rage by alighting at that stop and blocking both the railway tracks for over 100 minutes.
The cascading effect of the delay brought operations on the Hosur line toward the city to a halt, delaying two Express trains and four Passenger trains by a few hours. A minor protest was also held at Bellandur and Anekal Road station by the passengers.
According to railway officials, the eight-coach DEMU which leaves Dharmapuri at 5 am, is supposed to reach Karmelaram at 7.56 am and the city station by 8.10 am. Jampacked with over 1,000 passengers on all working days, half the train is occupied by passengers who commute to the city in connection with work from Hosur.
“It generally reaches between 15 minutes and 20 minutes late,” passengers said. The reason for frequent delays is that there is only a single railway line between Hosur and Bengaluru, and the crossing of trains in this station delays individual trains on different days.
“We need to give priority to Express trains over Passenger trains, which is mandatory across the country. Today (Thursday), we let the Yesvantpur-Hosur Passenger depart from Karmelaram at 8.01 am and the Karaikal Passenger depart at 8.18 am,” said an official.
“Passengers were upset that they had to wait for the other trains to pass. Ironically, their agitation lasted over one-and-a-half hours and the train finally left the station only at 10.04 am,” he pointed out.
Express spoke to many passengers who were protesting on the railway tracks. Assistant Professor P Bhaskar commutes from Dharmapuri on all week days to teach at a private college near the City railway station. “The train is always late by 30 to 45 minutes,” he said. “Most of us passengers have been angry over this regular delay for many months and we decided to protest today.”
“Thursday marked an outlet to all our frustration,” says commuter K Muralidhar, who works in the automotive industry. “I take a train from Hosur to Bellandur. And then I take a bus and travel 45 minutes to reach my factory at Mahadevapura,” he said. Instead of reaching at 7.50 am at Bellandur, the train always reaches between 8.20 am and 8.30 am, he says. On behalf of all the passengers, Muralidhar has lodged a complaint at Karmelaram railway station.
“Like we always reiterate, it is impossible to run more trains here. The section is packed to capacity and such delays are inevitable,” said R S S Saxena, Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru Railway Division. “We have asked the commuters to send a proposal that will suit their requirements and I will forward it to our Head Office (Hubballi),” he added.