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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : System failure due to a fire in a cable duct in front of the Moore Market Complex in Chennai on Saturday paralysed computerised reservation and issue of unreserved tickets at many stations in Kerala throwing the travel plans of hundreds of passengers out of gear.

Normal operations were restored only by 8.15 p.m.

According to railway officials, the first sign of a problem was noticed at about 11 a.m. on Saturday when the system began to slow down considerably. This immediately caused very long queues at major railway stations across the State. Though railway officials tried to compensate by issuing tickets manually, it soon became clear that without synchronised reservations across the State, it was difficult to find out how many seats were left to be reserved on any given train. In many cases, it reportedly took more than half-an-hour to issue one ticket.

At the Thiruvananthapuram Central station, many passengers were reportedly issued tickets for a train even after it had left the station. It was not immediately clear to these passengers whether they would get a refund or not. Those passengers who tried their luck at getting buses to destinations inside the State fared no better, as the KSRTC reworked certain schedules in order to run special buses to Sabarimala.

When the problem remained unsolved, railway officials announced that passengers could buy tickets from the Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs).

In Kozhikode, hundreds of vacationers and commuters were stranded at the railway station following the snag.

Families were forced to cancel their train journey and look for alternative modes of travel, including bus services and taxis. Some of the commuters proceeded to other local stations in the district where tickets were issued in paper format.

The same procedure was adopted at the counters of the Kozhikode railway station. But the employees were unable to manage the crowd.

In Kochi, issuing of tickets was affected following the snag. The longest queue was reported at the Ernakulam Junction station.

The Railway Protection Force and the local police were called in to ensure that no untoward incident took place.

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