Train services cancelled till Sunday on Mangaluru-Bengaluru sector

MANGALURU: With rain pounding the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road ghat section, train services to Bengaluru from this coastal city have been fully cancelled till Sunday. Inclement weather and gales in the ghat section in the last couple of days has seen landslides at multiple places, resulting in the cancellation or diversion of train services from August 6 onwards, and continuing heavy rain has further worsened the situation.
Even as restoration work was underway at Km 90/9-91/0 between Shiribagilu and Subrahmanya Road, fresh landslips in multiple locations at Kms 46/7-8, 54/4-5, 56/1-2, 61/0-1, 63/1-2 between Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road was reported on Thursday morning. Earth debris of more than 25,000 cu.m along with boulders and trees have fallen on the tracks. Staff, contract labourers and earth excavating machines are working round-the-clock to clear the tracks.
Aparna Garg, divisional railway manager, Mysuru division, with the senior divisional engineer of the section, visited the ghat section on Wednesday, to assess the extent of damage, and disruption caused at locations where landslides took place in the ghat section.
Yedakumari recorded 316 mm rain in a single day on Wednesday, compared to last year’s highest rainfall of 350 mm on a single day in the ghat section, said the Mysuru divisional public relations officer.
The following trains will remain fully cancelled till Sunday. Trains cancelled are train 16511/16513 KSR Bengaluru to Kannur/Karwar express on August 9 and 10; train 16518/16524 Kannur/Karwar to KSR Bengaluru Express journey commencing on August 9 and 10; train 16516 Karwar to Yeshwantpur Express journey commencing on August 10; train 16575 Yeshwantpur to Mangaluru express journey commencing on Sunday.
Likewise, train 16586 Mangaluru to Yeshwantpur Express journey commencing on August 9; train 16576 Mangaluru to Yeshwantpur Express journey commencing on August 9 and train 16515 Yeshwantpurto Karwar express journey commencing on August 9 have also been cancelled. This is the third major disruption of train services on this route this monsoon season, and the worst ever in terms of number of days taken to restore the track.