Title - Trains suspended, buses take a detour

Passengers bound for Bangalore from the city were caught unawares on Monday as the South Western Railway (SWR) decided to temporarily suspend trains to the State capital as a precautionary measure in the wake of the Cauvery agitation. 

The suspension of services left a majority of the passengers, especially those who commute to the State capital for work, stranded at the railway station. A majority of those waiting at the station were supposed to catch connecting trains from Bangalore to Coimbatore and other places. Many of the passengers took autorickshaws to the suburban bus stand, hoping to reach Bangalore by bus.

Protestors at Gejjalagere in Mandya district stopped the Shirdi Express, which left Mysore City at 5.30 am, according to SWR sources. The push-pull passenger and Chamundi Express trains, headed to Bangalore, too were stopped in Mandya. The trains that were coming to Mysore from Bangalore were also stopped by the protestors. The Chennai-Mysore Shatabdi Express service was terminated in Bangalore. The protestors slept on the railway tracks to stop the trains, with their cattle tethered to the tracks, in Maddur.

Raghavendra, one of the agitating farmers, tried to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree with a towel in Maddur, in protest against the release of water to Tamil Nadu and demanding that the arrested farmer leaders should be released. He was prevented from committing suicide by the other protestors.

The railway services resumed at 6.15 pm. The Myladuthurai Express, left Mysore at 6.15 pm, instead of 3.45 pm.