Major disruption in train services after bird gets entangled in overhead electricity cable in Bengaluru

More than 20 trains failed to leave KSR on time while trains coming from other destinations to Bengaluru were delayed by several hours

Hundreds of train passengers were stranded at Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station and other stations across Bengaluru as more than 20 trains could not depart on schedule early March 9 morning owing to a disruption in electricity supply. Many trains scheduled to arrive in Bengaluru from other destinations were also held up and took hours to reach Yeshwantpur, KSR Bengaluru, Cantonment and other stations. 

South Western Railway (SWR) officials attributed the disruption in power supply to a bird that got entangled in an overhead electricity cable around 5.10 a.m. This resulted in the grounding of an electric switch.

“Electricity supply failed on the KSR Bengaluru-Yelahanka line resulting in detention of around 20 trains, including those operated on long distance routes,” said Aneesh Hegde, Chief PRO of SWR.

Among the trains detained were Bengaluru–Chennai Shatabdi Express (train number 12028) and Lalbagh Express (12608). 

Office-goers who use train services on the Bengaluru-Mysuru and Bengaluru-Whitefield lines were inconvenienced. Many passengers vented their ire on social media demanding a proper response from SWR. 

“Mysuru super-fast express 12785 is railgadi or bailgadi? It was more than three hours late and still stopped at Yelahanka station. Why are you wasting people’s time?” said one commuter on Twitter. 

Another commuter, Srikanth Tumma, said that his train from Kacheguda to Mysuru was running four hours late and was held up at Yelahanka.