There was a heavy rush at all transport hubs across the city with home-bound people crowding bus and railway stations ahead of Sankranti.
Officials from TSRTC and South Central Railways said passengers were seen cramming and overcrowding buses and trains as the festival date comes closer.
Despite running special trains and buses to meet the increasing demand from passengers, thousands of people were facing hardships. Several people including students staying in hostels here were eager to board any bus or train heading for their home or nearby towns.
“As there is a heavy rush in trains and buses, I decided to board any train which passes through my home town,” said Vishal Rao, a second-year engineering student and a native of Visakhapatnam.
One could easily spot people hurrying with their travel bags, backpacks on the roads leading to both the MGBS, JBS and railway stations in the city to catch buses and trains.
Meanwhile, platforms at Secunderabad, Nampally and Kacheguda railway stations were packed with people who were running around and checking out every available source to get a confirmed ticket, while many were seen grabbing seats on the general coach of the trains.
People who were planning to avail current booking ticket for trains were left disappointed.“Though I booked a ticket a month ago, it was not confirmed and now I am waiting for the arrival of Satavahana Express to get into the general compartment and reach my place,” said K Sandeep, a techie and a native of Vijayawada.
Car rentals
However, devotees heading towards Sabarimala and commuters travelling to their home towns have been stranded owing to hiked charges and over-bookings in all modes of public transport. With not much left to choose from, it was expected that the travellers would lean on traditionally preferred travel agencies to get to their destinations.
It has been mixed luck for some car rental agencies. as Sravan Kumar, a travel agency owner said: “There has been an increase of about 30% since last week, with bookings to Sabarimala, Vijayawada and Guntur.” But, Keshav Reddy of another car rental agency lamented that the bookings were dull so far and hoped that it might go up in the next 48 hours. While a few travel agents believe that the reason for this drop is the shortened vacation in schools, others believe that the border tax has been a major cause of hesitancy in hiring vehicles.
(with inputs by Sisira Laasya & Vara Laxmi T)
