Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Automated signal failure holds up trains

COIMBATORE: The arrival and departure of some express and passenger trains were affected for about three hours on Sunday morning owing to the failure of the automated signal system here.

Authorities at the Coimbatore Railway Junction attributed the signal failure to short circuit and said that at least eight trains, including the Chennai-Coimbatore Cheran Express and the Coimbatore-Chennai Inter-City Express, were held up for more than two hours because of the problem.

The hold up in services left scores of passengers on the platforms, especially those waiting for trains that were passing through Coimbatore.

The signal failure was noticed around 6 a.m. Cheran Express, which was scheduled to arrive from Chennai at 6.10 a.m., reached Coimbatore junction at 8.45 a.m. Most of the passengers appeared to have alighted at one of the stations within the city where the train had to make a two-hour halt because of the problem.

A Chennai-Coimbatore weekly holiday special that was supposed to arrive at 7 a.m. was halted at Peelamedu around 6.30 a.m. It reached the Coimbatore junction around 9 a.m.

The Hyderabad-Ernakulam Sabari Express arrived at 10.45 a.m, instead of the scheduled arrival time of 8.10 a.m.

Lokmanya Tilak Express from Kurla arrived at 8.50 a.m. instead of the scheduled 6.30 a.m. The departure of the pairing train to Kurla was re-scheduled to 10.30 a.m., instead of the usual 8 a.m.

The Mangalore-Chennai West Coast Express got stuck at Podanur around 6.15 a.m. and reached Coimbatore more than two hours later. It left Coimbatore for Chennai around 8.50 a.m.

The Coimbatore-Chennai Inter-city Express left two hours behind its scheduled time of 6.15 a.m. The Coimbatore-Myladuthurai Jan Shatabdi Express left only at 9.45 a.m. instead of the normal time of 7 a.m.

The Coimbatore-Mangalore Passenger left two hours behind the scheduled departure time of 7.35 a.m. The Coimbatore-Nagercoil Passenger (running only up to Madurai) left only at 10.30 a.m. instead of 8.10 a.m.

The authorities said train services resumed with a team led by a Deputy Station Manager doing manual signalling at eight points where the automated system failed.

They also said that a part of the automated system was revived in three hours since the problem occurred. As the day progressed, the delay in arrival and departure of trains such as the Coimbatore-Chennai Kovai Express, got reduced to 15 to 20 minutes.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Short-term programmes
Programme
‘Role of civil engineers expanding’
Event
‘Handloom sector needs holistic development’
Kongunadu Munnetra Peravai candidates
A man who follows his heart Personality of the week
CCC welcomes Government notification
Micro units seek interest waiver
Detained under Goondas Act
Correction
Automated signal failure holds up trains
Vairamuthu to be honoured
In Coimbatore Today

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu