Passengers irked with delays in Bengaluru-Karwar Panchaganga Express after augmentation

The Karwar-KSR Bengaluru Panchaganga Express has been arriving with an average delay of 41 minutes over the last week at KSR Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

South Western Railways’ move to add five more coaches to the Bengaluru-Karwar Panchaganga Express has resulted in a delay of about an hour in the train’s arrival at Bengaluru and Karwar since June 13.

While the Panchaganga Express (train no. 16596) is scheduled to arrive at Yeshwanthpur at 6.43 a.m., it arrived late by 47 minutes, 1.34 hours, 1.10 hours, and 1.08 hours on June 13, 14, 15, and 16, respectively, according to Prathvi Kunder, a patron from Kundapura.

The train’s average delay for the last seven days was 41 minutes at Yeshwanthpur and 27 minutes at KSR Bengaluru, according to the National Train Enquiry System (NTES).

Similarly, the train arrived late by 9 minutes, 13 minutes, 2.06 hours, and 1 hour at Karwar on these dates, against the scheduled arrival of 8.25 a.m., he told The Hindu. The average delay in the last week at Karwar was 7 minutes, according to the NTES.

Office-goers affected

The delayed arrival, particularly at Bengaluru, has affected regular office-going commuters, said Gautam Shetty, a member of Kundapura Railway Prayanikara Samithi. He said the office-goers had to take a half-day leave because of the delay.

The timings of Panchaganga Express, which left Karwar at 6.00 p.m. and reached Yeshwanthpur at 6.43 a.m. and KSR Bengaluru at 7.15 a.m., were the reason the service became a big hit.

After 7:00 a.m., the Yeshwanthpur-KSR Bengaluru section becomes highly congested with the arrival of many trains from far-off places, including North Karnataka, resulting in delays to the Panchaganga Express, he said.

Crossing at Subrahmanya Road

Train no. 16595 and train no. 16596 crossed each other at Siribagilu on the Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Road Ghat section when they had 14 coaches each. After adding five more coaches to compensate for the cancelled day trains in the section, the two trains were made to cross at Subrahmanya Road Station due to constraints at Siribagilu. The Bengaluru service was not designed to compensate for the delay between Hassan and Chikkabanavara, resulting in the delay, Mr. Shetty said.

Members of Parliament from the coastal region had urged SWR to ensure the punctuality of services before adding more coaches, patrons noted.