Over a dozen trains through Ernakulam were partially cancelled, diverted, or detained en route on Tuesday due to waterlogging in tracks following intense rainfall affecting signal systems at Ernakulam Junction and Ernakulam Town railway stations.
This was necessitated since the Ernakulam Junction station and the track from Ernakulam Town to D-cabin on the Thripunithura route remained inundated even at 3.30 p.m., despite rain taking a break. This resulted in signal systems being turned off and trains being regulated manually, causing delays. “Efforts are on to restore normality, since any further delay would have a cascading effect on train services on Wednesday as well,” Railway sources said.
A few trains were re-routed. Thus, 16650 Nagercoil-Mangaluru Parasuram Express operated on the Thripunithura-Ernakulam Junction-Ernakulam Town route, while 12081 Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram Jan Shatabdi Express operated through Kottayam.
Train number 12618 Nizamuddin-Ernakulam Mangala Express terminated service at Ernakulam Town, instead of Ernakulam Junction, while 06768 Kollam-Ernakulam MEMU train terminated service at Mulanthuruthy, said a release.
Similarly, 16308 Kannur-Alappuzha Executive ended service at Edappally and the return train 16307 back to Kannur began operation from Edappally. Train 06769 Ernakulam-Kollam MEMU began service from Thripunithura, instead of from Ernakulam Junction. Train 06443 Ernakulam-Kollam MEMU special began service from Mulanthuruthy.
The 06451 Ernakulam-Kayamkulam unreserved express was cancelled, while train 12677 KSR Bengaluru-Ernakulam Intercity Express ended service at Aluva.
KSRTC services
Many bus services from the KSRTC stand in Kochi were either delayed or cancelled due to waterlogging on the ill-maintained station premises, leaving commuters stranded. Neither the Kochi Corporation nor the KSRTC has initiated steps to solve the issue.
More depend on metro
In the meantime, Kochi metro saw an approximately 30% increase in footfall on the day, with many private buses keeping away from inundated roads and the fall in number of two and four-wheelers. The total number of passengers who travelled till 11 p.m. on the day was 96,916.
