BENGALURU/KOLAR: Thousands of passengers were stranded at platforms of railway stations between KSR railway station and Bangarpet for nearly five hours as the wires of the overhead electric equipment (OHE) snapped in Kolar on Wednesday afternoon when a train was passing bringing operations of trains to a halt across this section.
To sustain operations, the electric locos were replaced by diesel locos in all Express and Superfast trains and they were made to stop at every station, delaying them enormously, but offering some relief to stranded passengers.
15 passenger trains were fully cancelled and buses towards Bangarpet were overflowing inconveniencing regular commuters.
The breakdown happened in the mid-section between Malur and Tyakal stations in Kolar district at 2.45 pm when the Bengaluru-Marikuppam passenger train (Tr no. 01775) was passing. The stations figure on the Bengaluru towards Bangarpet line (UP line) while the DOWN line (Bangarpet to KSR) remained unaffected.
Thousands of office goers commute to Bengaluru for work daily from Bangarpet and en route stations. With Railways failing to use social media quickly, the public returning from Bengaluru were stranded at stations clueless.
Eyewitness Kumar, on board the affected train told TNIE, “There was no sound of break or wire or equipment, the train just slowed and halted. We all thought it had stopped for the crossing of another train.” When the halt continued, passengers alighted and noticed that the overhead equipment had suffered a breakdown,” he added.
Among those stranded at KSR railway station on Wednesday evening was government employee, Prasanna Kumar, who was travelling from KSR to Tyakal. “I was waiting at Platform 7 for my regular train, SBC-Jolarpettai MEMU (Tr no. 16520) which has a scheduled departure time of 5.30 pm. The display board said it would leave by 6.10 pm. Hundreds of us kept waiting. At 6.30 pm, the news flashes on the board that the train has been cancelled. I am struggling to reach my home now and took the Metro up to Baiyappanahalli. I hope to board the Tirupati Express from there which has a stopping at Tyakal,” he told TNIE.
Passenger Dr Ramaswamy’s train was not cancelled but he was put off by the huge delay caused by his superfast train stopped at every station en route making him reach K R Puram 70 minutes late. Like him, countless passengers reached RailMadad (helpline) on social media for help and only received automated responses saying the complaint was acknowledged.
The doctor boarded the Mysuru Superfast Express (Tr no. 12609) from Kuppam to Krishnarajapuram. “The train started from Kuppam instead of the scheduled 5.45 pm. I reached K R Puram at 8.19 pm instead of the scheduled 7.02 pm due to the multiple stops en route, all of them unscheduled. I saw even the Double Decker Express jampacked and stuck at Devanagunti.”
Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM) Kusuma Hariprasad said, “A total of 15 passenger trains were cancelled and one train partially cancelled due to the snapping of the overhead electrical wire. Around 5.30 pm, the track was deemed fit for running trains with diesel loco. The restoration works are under progress and four hours of line block would be taken at night for it and the issue sorted out.”
DRM Shyam Singh said the exact reason for the technical problem would be investigated into. “Right now, our priority is on the restoration of the line so that the public is not inconvenienced."
Cancelled/diverted trains: The following were among the trains fully cancelled: Train nos. 01778 /01779 Marikuppam- Baiyyappanahalli-Marikuppam Passenger; 01780 Marikuppam- Bangarpet Psgr; No. 06527 Bangarpet - SMVB Passenger; 06291 Krishnarajapuram - Kuppam Psgr, 06290 Kuppam-Bangarpet Passenger; 06390 Bangarpet-KSR Bengaluru Psgrand 16522 KSR Bengaluru-Bangarpet Exp; Train No.01774 KSR Bengaluru- Marikuppam Passenger, 16520 KSR Bengaluru-Jolarpettai Exp and 06263 KSR Bengaluru- Marikuppam Psgr are cancelled.
Partial Cancellations
Train No 06562 Marikuppam- Krishnarajapuram Exp cancelled between Bangarpet and Krishnarajapuram; Train No.01775 is cancelled today between Tyakal and Marikuppam.
Train No.16315 Mysuru- Kochuveli Express is diverted to run via Baiyyappanahalli. Hosur and Dharmapuri stations skipping stoppages at Krishnarajapuram, Whitefield, Bangarpet and Tirupattur.