As a tower car stalled between Kundgol and South Hubballi railway station, five trains had to be diverted by the Railways resulting in the travel time extending to 10 additional hours in some cases on Saturday.
After the tower car developed a technical snag on Friday night, the Railways was left with no other alternative than diverting traffic.
Consequently, Train No 16590 Miraj-KSR Bengaluru Rani Chennamma Express was diverted to run via Gadag, Hosapete, Kotturu, Amaravati Colony skipping stoppages at Haveri, Ranebennur and Harihar.
The Pandharpur-Yesvantpur Express (Train No 16542 )was diverted to run via Gadag, Hosapete, Kotturu, Amaravati Colony skipping stoppages at Haveri and Harihar; the Dharwad-Mysuru Express (Train No 17302) was diverted to run via Gadag, Hosapete, Kotturu, Amaravati Colony skipping stoppages at Yelvigi, Haveri, Byadgi, Ranebennur and Harihar; the Mysuru-Nizamuddin Express (Train No 12781) was diverted via Amaravati Colony, Kotturu, Hosapete and Gadag skipping stoppages at Haveri, Harihar and Train No 20654 Belagavi-Bengaluru Express was diverted via Gadag, Hosapete and Kotturu.
The technical issue was sorted out and the track certified fit for travel at 4.30 a.m.
Meanwhile, as other trains were delayed, for the convenience of passengers intending to come to Hubballi and travelling by Siddaganga Intercity and Chitradurga-Hubballi Unreserved Express, South Western Railway arranged three buses from Saunshi station to Hubballi station.
According to railway authorities, approximately 400 packets of food and water were distributed at Gudgeri and Hubballi stations and a temporary help desk was also set up at Hubballi station, along with providing information to passengers through regular announcements.
Hardships
Meanwhile, diversion of these trains caused hardships to passengers. Some of them took to social media platforms to express their hardships. They said that there was no food and water supply on the diverted route, train toilets ran out of water and more importantly, working people could not reach their destinations on time. Others who reportedly were not aware of the technical snag complained that because of the diversion, they reached their destination with a delay of 10 hours.
