Travel plans of thousands of people were jeopardized on Friday after Southern Railway cancelled nearly two dozen trains originating from Chennai to various parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala and vice versa due to the closure of a river bridge between Arakkonam and Katpadi following a crack in the structure.
With the repair work on the river bridge still continuing, the Southern Railway cancelled 23 trains, including the Shatabdi services connecting Chennai with Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Coimbatore, on December 25 and 26. Express trains that are cancelled include those with destination to Erode, Ernakulam, Tiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru, Coimbatore, and Bengaluru, among others.
The cancellation of trains on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday has caused severe inconvenience to thousands of people, including those who had planned their travel coinciding with Christmas.
The trains were cancelled following a crack on the river bridge which prompted the Southern Railway to close a 10 km stretch between Mukundarayapuram and Tiruvalam stations. Sources explained that the Chennai-Katpadi section has two river bridges at the said site which are known as the up and down bridges.
“While the up bridge (from Chennai) has some issue, the down bridge (from Katpadi) is absolutely fine. We had to cancel trains because we cannot exert additional pressure on the down bridge by operating all trains from Chennai. Some trains are running on the down bridge, but we cannot run all trains,” a senior official told DH.
Though the problematic area is just a 10-km stretch, the official said, cancellation of several trains was the “only option” as “safety of passengers” cannot be compromised. A senior engineering team is at the spot to fix the damage and ensure that normal services are restored as early as possible.
“We hope to get the issue sorted in two days. Once the damage is fixed, we can run trains at a very low speed in the 10-km stretch. But the repair has to be completed and services should resume,” he said, adding that cancellation is high because of a variety of factors including pairing trains.
While 23 trains were cancelled on Saturday and Sunday, several other trains were either diverted through other routes or short-terminated at various stations.
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