Thousands of devotees from the Visakhapatnam region visit the temple of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala every year. Railways is the most preferred mode of transport for the common people. The Visakhapatnam–Kollam bi-weekly special train has been regularised but the frequency has been reduced to weekly.
With hardly two weeks to begin for the Sabarimala season, the berths in all classes on the Visakhapatnam–Kollam weekly express have been booked for the coming two months. “An additional special train is needed at least during the Sabarimala season to meet the rush of devotees. I hope the railway authorities will run an additional special train till January 20,” says Kairali Arts Club (KAC) president N. Dhanapalan.
Prasanthi Express, the only direct train from Bangalore to Visakhapatnam, was extended to Bhubaneswar in the past. But, the railways has failed to introduce a single originating train from Visakhapatnam to Bangalore despite huge demand.
The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has been operating AC buses to cater to the huge demand from passengers, particularly software professionals from the city, employed in Bangalore.
Airline operators have also chipped in quickly and three of them are operating direct flights from Vizag to Bangalore. IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air Costa are already operating a flight each and now Air Asia has announced the operation of two direct flights from Vizag to Bangalore, one in the morning and the other in the evening, in its winter schedule. This indicates the huge demand from Vizag to Bangalore.
Air Asia is yet to start these two services and the very severe cyclone and its impact on the airport could have made them defer their plans. It’s learnt that Air Asia is also toying with the idea of introducing a direct flight from Vizag to Kuala Lumpur.
IndiGo has introduced two new flights from Vizag to Mumbai in its winter schedule with effect from October 26. The first flight leaves at 9 a.m. daily and reaches Mumbai at 10 a.m. This flight has onward connections to Vadodara (Baroda). The second flight leaves at 1.45 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and reaches Mumbai at 2.55 p.m.
