Southern Railway has decided to enforce restrictions on issuing unreserved sleeper class tickets for daytime travellers in select trains till December 15 in view of the heavy rush during the Sabarimala festival season.
A release said here on Saturday that the restrictions were being imposed in the light of reports of disputes between daytime unreserved sleeper ticket holders and pilgrims with reservation on sleeper class coaches. The decision would be reviewed after December 15. Short-distance travellers should make use of the advance reservation facility at passenger reservation centres and also the online booking facility of the IRCTC website, the release said.
The trains which would come under the ambit of the decision include the 17229 Thiruvananthapuram-Hyderabad Sabari Express, 12625 Thiruvananthapuram- New Delhi Kerala Express, 12624 Thiruvananthapuram- Chennai Mail, 12696 Thiruvananthapuram- Chennai Superfast Express, and the 16525 Kanyakumari- KSR Bengaluru Express.
In the case of these trains, unreserved sleeper class tickets would be issued only for journeys up to Ernakulam Town. These north-bound trains are fully occupied by reserved passengers from Ernakulam Town.
In the case of the 16526 KSR Bengaluru- Kanyakumari Express, 17230 Hyderabad-Thiruvananthapuram Sabari Express, 12626 New Delhi- Thiruvananthapuram Kerala Express, day-time sleeper class tickets will not be issued till Ernakulam Town and will be issued from Ernakulam Town onwards. These south-bound trains are also fully booked up to Ernakulam Town.
