One more bogie please! say passengers
HYDERABAD: The Sankranthi rush seems almost unprecedented with lakhs of people eager to head back home to celebrate the festival with their families.
However, the journey is turning out to be a daunting task for a majority of them. The crowds at the railway station must be seen to be believed. With private bus operators drastically cutting down their operations for fear of the Transport Department's continuing inspections, passengers had to rely almost exclusively on trains and RTC buses.
'Getting a train ticket is next to impossible. I headed to the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station to catch a bus to Vijayawada, but I had to wait for hours to get a ticket,' Rajesh, an engineering student, told.
For people going with families, it was nothing short of a nightmare. Besides the rush, the soaring fares made it a costly affair. Madhu S, who was going to Bengaluru with his family of four, had to spend a big chunk of his salary on fares.
'There were negligible number of private buses and the one in service are charging more than `2000 per head for one-way trip. For us, it will easily cost close to `10000, which is 20 per cent of my salary! Add to that the return fare!' exclaimed Madhu.
He dared not consider the option of flying home, for airfare is hovering around `8,000-12,000. The Transport Department has appealed to people to opt for the APSRTC to avoid inconvenience likely to be caused due to continuing inspections of private buses.
On Sunday, the officials seized 65 buses and on Saturday, about 60. Fearing the inspections, the private operators kept their buses off the road.
The Secunderabad railway station saw heavy rush so much so that people got into trains even from emergency exit windows. This, despite the fact that the South Central Railway pressed into service about 110 special trains and generated over 40,000 additional berths. The RTC is also operating special services. The plight of passengers was made worse by the bumper to bumper traffic on national highway no 9.
News Posted: 13 January, 2014
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