BENGALURU: A JCB construction vehicle, carrying out a contract work for the South Western Railway, made an unauthorised crossing on the railway tracks between Davangere and Tolahunse sections (roughly 300 km from Bengaluru) on Thursday evening at 5.12 pm. The JCB driver jumped off his vehicle and escaped while 22 concrete sleepers on the railway track got damaged, said a railway source.
Train traffic was impacted for atleast two hours between Chikjajur and Hubballi as it was only a single line track. Steps to restore the track are underway.
According to the source, "The vehicle should not have crossed the railway track. Most of the truck has fallen on the railway track and 22 railway sleepers were damaged in the impact."
Aparna Garg, Divisional Railway Manager, Mysuru Railway Division said that the sleepers under both the locos got damaged in the process. "Trains which have already started along the route will suffer delays. We are clearing the tracks as quickly as possible by replacing the damaged concrete sleepers with wooden ones. Trains will be made to run at a slow speed of 22 kmph," she said.
Six trains running along the route have been impacted so far, the DRM said.