The railways has cancelled a total of 47 commuter trains on Saturday and Sunday and announced the same in a communication late on Friday night, attracting widespread criticism for its "disregard for the travel plans" of thousands of people.
A majority of the trains cancelled were trains running between Bengaluru and its suburban areas. Trains to Dharmavaram, Jalarpettai, Marikuppam, Tumakuru, Ramanagarm, Kuppam, Bangarpet as well as city outskirts like Whitefield.
Elsewhere, popular trains like the Tumakuru-Shivamogga Express and trains on Huballi-Arsikere, Chamarajanagar-Mysuru, Hosapete-Hubbali, Hubballi-Solapur and other routes have also been cancelled.
Besides the cancellation, the timing of the announcement late on Friday night attracted criticism. Replying to the announcement made by the Divisional Railway Manager of Bengaluru division on Twitter, Aditya Joshi noted that the move will inconvenience lot of people who were returning to Bengaluru after the holiday week.
"Very bad timing! All are returning from native places to Bengaluru and you suddenly cancel everything? (Cancellation) after Monday would have been apt," he noted.
Shyam, another user, stated that the decision shows that the railways has no regard to the convenience of the passengers. “People who travel in railways are mostly poor and they usually plan weeks ahead. The railways’ utter disregard shows in the way the cancellation has been announced in the last minute. Now, they have to shell out huge amounts of money for buses,” he noted.
While the communication to the press didn't provide any reason for the cancellation, the DRM explained that the trains were cancelled due to the railway exam being held to fill the post of Goods Train Managers.