BENGALURU/KOLAR: More than 30 trains to and from Bengaluru were delayed on Wednesday due to a power failure, apparently caused by a bird strike in the Yelahanka -Channasandra corridor. Thousands of passengers, especially office-goers, students and daily wage workers were affected as many trains were delayed by up to four hours.
Officials from South Western Railway (SWR) said that an eagle got entangled between a locomotive’s pantograph (which transmits electricity from the overhead line to the engine) and the overhead wires. In the impact, the wires snapped and caused a power blackout on three sections – Bengaluru to Jolarpettai, Dharmavaram and Mysuru.
Railways is investigating the cause for the snag. Officials said while 21 trains to and from Bengaluru were disrupted for more than four hours, between 5.15am and 9:10am, another seven trains were delayed due to the cascading effect till 7pm. And, many trains are running late on Wednesday night.
The maximum delays were reported on the Bengaluru – Jolarpettai section (16 trains), followed by 11 trains on the Bengaluru-Dharmavaram stretch and one train on the Bengaluru-Mysuru section. Some of the trains were detained at en route stations and resumed the journey with diesel locomotives.
There was chaos at several stations like Tekal as passengers were stranded. S Mohan, a passenger from Kolar, said: “There was no proper update or announcement from the railways about the delays. Passengers could have explored other modes like buses. Railways should ensure that such incidents should not happen in future.”
Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh said: “The investigation for the cause of this incident is still on. Some of the trains were delayed due to bunching. A total of around 30 trains were affected.”
Though bird-hit incidents affecting flight operations are common, this is probably for the first time in the recent past such an incident has cripple train movements in SWR. In Mumbai, repellents and gels are used to keep birds away from overhead equipment and pantographs which are often the preferred nesting place of birds
Some of the delayed trains were: 12863 Howrah -Yeswantpur superfast Express, 16525 Bengaluru express (Kanyakumari – KSR Bengaluru), 11006 Chalukya Express (Puducherry-Dadar), 12028 Shatabdi Express (KSR Bengaluru- Chennai), 12608 Lalbagh Express (KSR Bengaluru- Chennai), 06556 Jolarpettai-KSR Bengaluru Memu, 22692 Rajdhani Express (Hazrat Nizamuddin-KSR Bengaluru), 16591 Hampi Express (Hubballi -Mysuru), 12785 Kacheguda- Mysuru, 11311 Solapur – Hassan Express, 11301 Udyan Express (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – Termin KSR Bengaluru), 16572 Bidar –Yeswantpur, 06266 Hindupur-KSR Bengaluru Memu, 12214 Delhi Sarai Rohilla – Yeswantpur AC Duronto Express, 16316 Kochuveli- Mysuru Express, 06264 Marikuppam – KSR Bengaluru MEMU, 15228 Muzaffarpur- Yeswantpur, 06292 Kuam , 12510Guwahati-Bengaluru Cantonment and 22618 KSR Bengaluru-Tirupati intercity.
Officials from South Western Railway (SWR) said that an eagle got entangled between a locomotive’s pantograph (which transmits electricity from the overhead line to the engine) and the overhead wires. In the impact, the wires snapped and caused a power blackout on three sections – Bengaluru to Jolarpettai, Dharmavaram and Mysuru.
Railways is investigating the cause for the snag. Officials said while 21 trains to and from Bengaluru were disrupted for more than four hours, between 5.15am and 9:10am, another seven trains were delayed due to the cascading effect till 7pm. And, many trains are running late on Wednesday night.
The maximum delays were reported on the Bengaluru – Jolarpettai section (16 trains), followed by 11 trains on the Bengaluru-Dharmavaram stretch and one train on the Bengaluru-Mysuru section. Some of the trains were detained at en route stations and resumed the journey with diesel locomotives.
There was chaos at several stations like Tekal as passengers were stranded. S Mohan, a passenger from Kolar, said: “There was no proper update or announcement from the railways about the delays. Passengers could have explored other modes like buses. Railways should ensure that such incidents should not happen in future.”
Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Shyam Singh said: “The investigation for the cause of this incident is still on. Some of the trains were delayed due to bunching. A total of around 30 trains were affected.”
Though bird-hit incidents affecting flight operations are common, this is probably for the first time in the recent past such an incident has cripple train movements in SWR. In Mumbai, repellents and gels are used to keep birds away from overhead equipment and pantographs which are often the preferred nesting place of birds
Some of the delayed trains were: 12863 Howrah -Yeswantpur superfast Express, 16525 Bengaluru express (Kanyakumari – KSR Bengaluru), 11006 Chalukya Express (Puducherry-Dadar), 12028 Shatabdi Express (KSR Bengaluru- Chennai), 12608 Lalbagh Express (KSR Bengaluru- Chennai), 06556 Jolarpettai-KSR Bengaluru Memu, 22692 Rajdhani Express (Hazrat Nizamuddin-KSR Bengaluru), 16591 Hampi Express (Hubballi -Mysuru), 12785 Kacheguda- Mysuru, 11311 Solapur – Hassan Express, 11301 Udyan Express (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj – Termin KSR Bengaluru), 16572 Bidar –Yeswantpur, 06266 Hindupur-KSR Bengaluru Memu, 12214 Delhi Sarai Rohilla – Yeswantpur AC Duronto Express, 16316 Kochuveli- Mysuru Express, 06264 Marikuppam – KSR Bengaluru MEMU, 15228 Muzaffarpur- Yeswantpur, 06292 Kuam , 12510Guwahati-Bengaluru Cantonment and 22618 KSR Bengaluru-Tirupati intercity.