BALLARI: Train no. 07396 DEMU is the only train between Harihar and Ballari. It is scheduled to cover 235 kilometres in six hours. However, it takes 9 to 12 hours and sometimes 14 hours to reach Ballari. It starts from Harihar at 2.15 p.m. but often reaches Ballari in the wee hours of the next day, against its arrival time of 8.10pm. Irked by the snail speed of this DEMU, passengers are turning away from the service and alleging that it's a conspiracy by SWR to shut down the service in the name of low patronage.
Rakesh BM, a post-graduate student in Kotturu, told TOI that he sent his aged relative on Thursday when the train departed by 4pm, instead of its scheduled 2.15pm, and it reached Ballari by 2.30am. "We had reached Harihar station by 2pm and it was a physical and mental agony of about 14 hours for the journey of 6 hours. It has also record of arriving in Ballari by 4.30am next day," he shared.
