Festive rush: Express trains run jam-packed for weekend

Hyderabad: As people are excited to visit their native place for a long weekend on the occasion of Sankranti, huge rush has been witnessed in Railway Stations in the city. Almost all the trains are already full and trains plying to neighboring state (Andhra Pradesh), extreme South and also East India have a waiting list of 300. Passengers are seen upset as it is getting difficult for them to book tickets due to extra rush.

Trains heading towards Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Srikakulam and Howrah are witnessing huge rush from past one week as more than one lakh passengers are boarding the trains at Secunderabad Railway Station everyday.

The trains which are full till January 17 are Godavari Express (12728), Falaknuma Express (12704), Visakha Express (17016), Konark Express (11019) and East coast express (18046).

"Compared to last two years, from the past one week, we have been are witnessing huge rush, also the number of trains plying in the SCR zone has increased. The SCR has been running 191 regular express trains and more than 540 trains has been increased to run towards Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and other states due to the festive season. These train services are having various coach compositions including both Reserved and Unreserved coaches catering to all segments of passengers," said a senior SCR officer.

Srinivas Rao, resident of Secunderabad, said, "As train tickets are cheaper than the private buses and cabs and one can also have safe journey, hence many prefer to travel only through train. But, this year, when I booked a train from Secunderabad to Visakhapatnam on January 12, the waiting list was 300 in a sleeper class and for the past two days the number has been constant. Hence, I am forced to cancel my tickets and book a private cab service. It will be better if SCR runs more trains during the festive season."

"On January 12, I have an early morning train from Secunderabad to Srikakulam, but I got a message form the railways that my ticket is on waiting list, and I was forced to cancel my train. Hence, it will be better if SCR runs extra trains during festive season to cope up with the rush," said Sunita Rao, another traveler.