The Pandit Nehru Bus Station and railway station here were jam-packed with passengers on the last day of Darasa vacation on Sunday. Thousands of people were seen waiting on the platforms to reach their destinations.
Even as the South Central Railway (SCR) and the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) ran additional services to clear the Dasara and Bakrid festival rush, long queues were seen hanging around the booking points at the stations.
Students and the employees, who failed to get reservation in trains and RTC buses, turned up at the private bus terminals in large numbers. People who enjoyed the festivals in rural areas in East and West Godavari, Guntur, Prakasam and Krishna districts reached the bus and railway stations in Vijayawada, which are hubs for transportation.
There was a heavy demand for reservations to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Tirupati. Many people booked to and from advance tickets much in advance and reservation for additional services were also closed a couple of days ago.
Students and youngsters were seen running after the buses and trying to enter through the windows to occupy seats at Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS). Long queues were witnessed at almost all the reservation counters in the bus station since Sunday morning.
The APSRTC which was operating special buses for Dasara vacation arranged services to all important destinations on Sunday. “The RTC Vijayawada Zone operates about 400 buses to Hyderabad, Chennai, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Bangalore, Rajahmundry and other cities. In view of Dasara and Bakrid festivals, we have doubled the services. We are trying to provide additional services to clear the rush”, APSRTC Vijayawada Zone Executive Director M.S. Prakasa Rao told The Hindu on Sunday.
