Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

Rain effect: late running of trains continues

Staff Reporter

TIRUPATI: Due to the incessant rain, most of the trains arriving into and departing from Tirupati are running late by several hours, putting devotees to hardship and causing serious dislocation to their travel schedules.

While Tirumala Express from Visakhapatnam arrived 90 minutes late on Tuesday, Narayanadri express (Secunderabad) came four hours late. The worst affected was the Kakinada-Bangalore Seshadri express that was running eight hours behind schedule.

The railway authorities are learnt to have sounded a caution to drivers to maintain speed limit in view of the recent train mishaps in the wake of heavy rain that lashed the State. Another reason cited was the damage caused to the bridge near Bitragunta in Nellore district that has left the busy trunk route with a single track. The other track under repair was expected to become operational only in a couple of months.

While all major trains have a `cushion time' of several hours before chugging in the reverse direction, the Seshadri Express has none, either way. It has a spare time of mere 45 minutes, both at the Bangalore and Kakinada ends, that has a cascading effect on the journey time and throws the schedule haywire.

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