About 12,000 commuters travelling by ten express and two passenger trains were stranded and had to be sent to their destinations by RTC buses following the ‘rail roko' agitation in Telangana on Thursday.
All these trains were bound for the State capital but got stuck in the agitation at various places. The passengers later left for their homes in 182 buses which the railways hired, Chief Public Relations Officer of South Central Railway K. Sambasiva Rao told a press conference.
He said the Garibrath, Rajkot and Hussain Sagar Expresses were detained at Tandur, Aurangabad-Hyderabad passenger at Vikarabad, Chennai-Kachiguda Express at Mahbubnagar, Parbani-Hyderabad passenger at Kamareddy, Ajanta Express at Nizamabad, Charminar Express at Nekkonda, Gautami Express at Intikanne and Godavari and Narayanadri Expresses at Bibinagar.
Mr. Rao added that 923 passengers of the Chennai-Kachiguda Express were evacuated by 18 buses from Mahbubnagar in a record 45 minutes. The train reached the station at 7 a.m. and the last bus left at 7.45 a.m.
Three long distance trains passing through the State were held up for several hours. They included the Patna-Ernakulam and Nizamabad-Visakhapatnam expresses which were stopped at Kazipet and the Darbanga-Bengaluru Express at Yelgur in Warangal district. The railways provided food and water to the passengers.
Speed limit restricted
The official also said the SCR deployed two additional companies of Railway Protection Force and restricted the speed of trains to 50 kmph to strengthen security and safety. Pilot specials with a loco and a coach were run ahead of passenger trains. The tracks were patrolled and watchmen posted at key bridges.
The rationalisation of train services and other measures had been discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by SCR General Manager G.N. Asthana on Wednesday evening. He also held a video conference with divisional railway managers.
