21-05-2025
Signal glitch continues as delay and short-termination dog Hwh passengers
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Kolkata: The massive signal failure at Santragachhi yard continued to throw Howrah station into disarray. Several long-distance trains were running 6-10 hours late even on Wednesday.
Passengers continued to grapple with extreme inconvenience under the sweltering heat, and no clear timeline for resolution. The crisis, rooted in technical glitches in the non-interlocking signal system, left thousands stranded even as South-Eastern Railway authorities claimed that the technical snag was addressed, and trains were still running inordinately late because of the cascading effect.
The Kharagpur-Howrah section, being the trunk route for most trains between Bengal and southern India, continued to remain clogged for the third consecutive day.
Thousands of passengers were left in the lurch at Howrah Station's new complex. Many of them reached Howrah at the crack of dawn and waited for nearly ten hours in scorching heat to board trains that were already running nine or ten hours behind schedule.
Raju Das from Bihar was due to leave for Mumbai on Wednesday morning. "I checked out of hotel to board Howrah-Mumbai CSMT Duronto Express. The scheduled departure was 5.45 am.
When I came to the station, I was told that the train is rescheduled. Later, an SMS alert said the train would leave at 3.45 pm," rued Das, who needs to attend work in Mumbai.
Puri-bound Vande Bharat Express, which was supposed to leave Howrah at 6.10 am, was rescheduled to 4.10 pm. Among other trains with prolonged departures were Tamralipto Express (nine hours and 40 minutes behind schedule) and Puri-Shatabdi Express (delayed by six hours).
Kolkata-bound passenger Brishti Basu said, "Last night we received a message that Puri-Howrah Shatabdi Express would leave Puri at 11.30 am on Wednesday instead of 5.45 am. It left at 11.50 am and kept stopping en route. It was supposed to reach Howrah at 1.40 pm, and I was supposed to join work today."
"The signal failure has led to pressure on Howrah. SER has designated Santragachhi and Shalimar as alternatives. But Shalimar is undergoing renovation. Santragachhi's signal issues have added to the crisis," an official said.
