No trains, flights to Chennai; buses running empty

All trains between Bengaluru and Chennai were cancelled on Wednesday and the situation is likely to remain the same on Thursday, as stations in Chennai were flooded. Mangaluru - Chennai Central Mail cancelled Train No.12602 Mangaluru Central – Chennai Central Mail scheduled to leave Mangaluru Central at 13.25 hrs. on 03.12.2015 (Thursday) has been cancelled. There are seven daily trains and 11 trains between the City Railway station and Chennai Central station. “The situation is bad and today all our trains were cancelled. The Bengaluru-Bangarpet Express had to be cancelled as the pairing train from Arakkonam did not arrive on time. On Thursday as well, it is doubtful if we can run trains,” said Divisional Railway Manager (Bengaluru) Sanjiv Agarwal. In the meantime, South Western Railways has been posting details of cancellation/delays on their Twitter accounts @SWRRLY and @SWRBengaluru. Meanwhile, people who planned to visit Chennai are staying away till the situation improves. Return buses full The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, which operates 42 services to Chennai, had to cancel 16 schedules on Wednesday and club others because of very low passenger traffic. On the other hand, the buses coming from Chennai are packed. Additional buses are being arranged to handle the rush. “We are monitoring the situation. As of now, the roads are open and connectivity has not been affected. We are arranging around 55 buses from Chennai to Bengaluru to handle the extra rush,” said KSRTC Managing Director Rajender Kumar Kataria. Flight services from Bengaluru to Chennai continue to remain suspended. -The Hindu