Ahead of Sankranti, train travellers face ticket blues

Hyderabad: With Sankranti approaching, securing train tickets to the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh has become a herculean task. The railways has announced a few special trains, but most of them are already fully booked. Surprisingly, even the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has suspended bookings for January 11, 12, and 13 due to the waiting list exceeding the limit.

South Central Railways (SCR) runs trains to major destinations in Andhra Pradesh during the month of Sankranti, such as Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Nellore, Kakinada, Narasapur, Bhimavaram, Eluru, Ongole, Vizianagaram, and Tirupati. But this time, they have announced only a few trains. The reason is that many trains have been diverted to Prayagraj, where the Kumbh Mela will take place from January 13 to February 26.

A few passengers have pointed out that due to lack of train services, people are forced to look for alternatives such as travelling by bus, which are, unfortunately, double the train fares. For instance, the train ticket from Hyderabad to Vizag costs Rs 700 whereas TGSRTC fares from Hyderabad to Vizag have surged from 1,313 to 1,900 for the Sankranti season.

“SCR has announced special trains to manage the Sankranti festival rush, but they are inadequate and there are still concerns regarding the non-availability of berths in all the trains travelling towards Vijayawada. I have been trying to book a ticket for Narsapur two months ago but almost all trains that ply in that route are fully occupied. It will be better if SCR introduces more trains,” said B T Srinivasan, general secretary, United Federation of Residents Welfare Association. “This year, booking train tickets has become a bit challenging, as the ticket I had booked from Secunderabad to Ongole two months ago is not yet confirmed. Instead of plying special trains to clear the festive rush, it would be better if South Central Railway also increases coaches in the existing trains”, said Ramesh Yadav, a private school teacher. On condition of anonymity, a senior officer of SCR said that nearly 205 special trains have been announced and in the coming days, there is a plan to introduce more special trains compared to last year.