Bengaluru: South Western Railway (SWR) has announced a full fare refund for passengers who missed the KSR Bengaluru-Belagavi Vande Bharat Express Friday after receiving a false SMS stating that the train had been rescheduled. Passengers opting for alternative travel will also be provided reserved tickets on another train.The incident occurred after some passengers received an SMS from the official railway messaging channel claiming the train, scheduled to leave KSR Bengaluru at 2.20pm, had been rescheduled to 5.30pm. Believing the message, several passengers reached the station around 5pm, only to find the train had departed on time.“I was told the train had already left at the original time. At least 15 people had the same issue,” said passenger Dileep Kumar.SWR clarified that only a minority of passengers received the incorrect message, which was sent by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS). SWR, in a statement, said the train operated as scheduled and the technical issue behind the erroneous SMS is under investigation.
