South Central Railway handles record 11.5 L unreserved passengers

Secunderabad: South Central Railway (SCR) for the first time in the history carried 11.5 lakh unreserved passengers o¬n a single day, including the 2.2-lakh passengers travelled by MMTS.

On an average around 9.2 lakh passengers travel in unreserved segment each day, which includes around 1.6 lakh passengers of MMTS sector. On October 21, due to TSRTC strike in Telangana State, followed by the reopening of educational institutions, passengers thronged the railway stations to travel by intercity express trains and MMTS trains.

Sensing the additional rush of passengers, the zone has taken several steps like operating 4 special Jansadharan trains between Kacheguda - Nizamabad and Kacheguda - Kurnool city to cater the rail users of nearby cities of Hyderabad.

In addition, the regular intercity express trains were augmented with 14 additional general coaches on Monday to cater the unreserved passengers. The MMTS are Secunderabad - Guntur -Golconda Exp; Secunderabad - Ballarshah - Bhagyanagar Exp; Guntur - Vikarabad - Palnadu Exp; Vikarabad - Guntur - Palnadu Exp; Hyderabad - Sirupur Kagaznagar Exp; Sirupur Kagaznagar - Hyderabad Express and Secunderabad - Bidar Exp.

The zone made preparations for Tuesday also. 14 more general coaches were attached to the regular intercity express trains, in addition to operating four Jansadharan special trains.

For the first time on Monday, the number of passengers travelled by MMTS suburban services operating in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad has crossed 2-lakh mark and carried around 2.2 lakh passengers.

On this occasion, Gajanan Mallya, general manager at SCR appreciated the efforts and coordination among all the departments for smooth handling of heavy rush without any hitch. He advised to chalk out meticulous planning to handle extra rush of passengers in the coming days.