Chennai: Hundreds of rail passengers on board 12 suburban trains were stranded for more than 90 minutes, between Tambaram and Chennai beach railway stations. The Wednesday night power outage in Chennai also plunged railway stations and approach roads into darkness. A few MRTS trains connecting Velachery and Chennai were also stranded with passengers spending their bedtime in trains. Most of them after boarding the last trains reached home at least two hours late and about 2,000 to 4,000 passengers could have been affected due to the power cut, railway sources said.

“We were clueless about the sudden power blackout and all our last trains got stranded at major terminals like Tambaram, Velachery, and Chennai beach. Operating express trains, receiving them on tracks, making public announcement and running the railway stations without power was strenuous last night and the situation improved only after 1.30 pm,” a southern railway official told DC.

“Due to the power outage, our staff on the night shift were restless and there was no communication from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (Tangedco) regarding the power restored. Passengers were screaming at us and wanted to know about the electric train departures and arrivals. Our station masters and guards maintained silence as the passengers were irked over the long delays”, the official said.

“Last night, I boarded the train at Park station around 11.10 pm and it took 1.30 am for me to reach Tambaram, which is three times more than the usual time, by the time I reached Tambaram station the hotels and fast foods near bus stand were closed. I hit the sack without dinner,” rued G. Govardhan, who was returning from Ritchie Street to Tambaram. However, train traffic along suburban sections were normal on Thursday with trains on the track by 4.30 am. The power outage in Chennai also had no impact on long distance express trains, railway officials said.