More than 20 trains could not depart from KSR railway station on time, while trains coming to Bengaluru from other destinations were running late by several hours.
More than 20 trains could not depart from KSR railway station on time, while trains coming to Bengaluru from other destinations were running late by several hours.
Hundreds of train passengers were stranded at Krantiveer Sangoli Rayanna railway station and other stations in Bengaluru as more than 20 trains could not run as scheduled on the morning of March 9 due to disruption in power supply. Several trains coming to Bengaluru from other destinations were also stopped and took hours to reach Yesvantpur, KSR Bengaluru, Chhawni and other stations.
South Western Railway (SWR) officials attributed the power supply disruption to a bird that entangled in an overhead power cable at around 5.10 am, resulting in grounding of an electric switch.
On March 9, 2022, a bird entangled in an overhead power cable at Bengaluru’s KSR Railway Station, resulting in grounding of an electrical switch, disrupting railway services. photo credit: The Hindu
Anish Hegde, chief public relations officer of SWR, said, “The power supply failed on the KSR Bengaluru-Yelahanka line, resulting in the suspension of around 20 trains plying on long-distance routes.”
The detained trains include Bengaluru-Chennai Shatabdi Express (train number 12028) and Lalbagh Express (12608).
‘Train running late by four hours’
Office-goers using train services on the Bengaluru-Mysore and Bengaluru-Whitefield lines were inconvenienced. Several passengers vented their anger on social media demanding an appropriate response from the SWR.
“Mysore Super-Fast Express is 12785 train or Belgadi? It was more than three hours late and still stopped at Yelahanka station. Why are you wasting people’s time?” said a commuter on Twitter.
Another passenger, Srikanth Tumma, said his train from Kacheguda to Mysore was running late by four hours and was halted at Yelahanka.
In a Twitter post, Sunil Patra said that the train he was traveling in had stopped for an hour at each station after entering Bengaluru. Ravi S, who traveled from Karwar to Bengaluru, said the train halted outside Bengaluru for over an hour.
“What’s the point of paying for a premium ticket in Rajdhani Express if it gets delayed by more than two hours.” asked another passenger on Twitter.
Mr Hegde said that SWR managed to restore power supply by 8 am “On some routes, we operated diesel locomotives. Train services on the Bengaluru-Mysuru and Bengaluru-Jolarpettai routes were restored till 9 am, but not on the Bengaluru-Dharmavaram line.