BENGALURU : A whimsical wind and some stray laundry played havoc with train schedules on Thursday afternoon, and passengers on board the Basava Express and Shatabdi Express were not amused.
They were held up for a good 55 minutes at Channapatna station after cautious locopilots brought the trains to a halt.
According to sources, when the Basava Express was about to depart from Ramanagara Station at 2.55pm, the loco-pilot noticed clothes strung on the Over Head Equipment (OHE) and as a precautionary step, brought the Mysuru-Bagalkot Basava Express to a halt. As did the pilot of the Mysuru-Chennai Shatabdi Express, travelling along the same route.
Buffetted by the breeze, clothes hung out to dry by people living near Ramanagara Station were hoisted on to overhead electrical wires that supply power to trains. A railway official told TNIE that the OHE supplies 25KV power to the loco via a contact surface between them.
“If there is any damage caused to the contact surface, then the train would not be able to operate. It would have taken a whole day to set it right and impact train operations along the route. Hence, it is important to safeguard the system,” he said.
Staff from the electrical department of the Bengaluru Division removed the clothes hanging from the wires. Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh did not respond to calls or messages in this connection.