Despite Sankranti specials, passengers’ woes continue

Railway police swing into action to ease the situation

Vacation blues: Hundreds of passengers wait for the arrival of their trains on Platform No. 8 at Visakhapatnam Railway Station on Wednesday.

Notwithstanding the operation of specials by the railways and RTC, it’s a nightmare to travel by trains or buses during Sankranti festival, without prior reservation. “I wanted to come home for the festival but all trains from Hyderabad to Vizag are full,” said A.S. Babu of Hyderabad, who couldn’t plan his trip in advance.

The delays in the arrival of trains coming to Visakhapatnam Junction due to detention at Thadi, Duvvada and at the outer signal at Kancharapalem is getting on the nerves of passengers. The problem is acute during the last couple of weeks, reportedly due to maintenance works at these two places.

Scores of passengers were seen at Visakhapatnam Railway Station and Dwaraka Bus Station (RTC Complex) on Wednesday as trains were delayed. Hundreds of passengers were seen waiting at Platform No.8 (Gnanapuram-entry) for the arrival of their trains. The railway police asked passengers to form queues on the platform to facilitate smooth entry into the coaches on arrival of onward trains.

Though the RTC is operating specials, they are charging 50% over the normal fare. Despite the hike in fares, it is difficult to find accommodation on these specials as the online reservation facility, provided by RTC, has been utilised well by passengers to book their tickets in advance. “Private bus services are charging ₹1,800 to ₹3,000 for travel between Vizag and Hyderabad, said Chiranjeevi, a resident of Balayya Sastry Layout in the city, who checked for reservation online. He had bad experiences twice, when he went to Hyderabad by private buses during the last Dasara holidays.

The Visakhapatnam Region of APS RTC has operated 38 special buses from Hyderabad to Vizag from January 4 in addition to one bus each from Bengaluru and Chennai to Visakhapatnam on January 10. These specials are in addition to the regular services operated from Vizag to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.

Return specials

RTC will operate 30 specials from Hyderabad to Vizag and one each from Bengaluru and Chennai during the next three days.

A total of 158 special buses will be operated by RTC from Vizag to Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Vijayawada, Naraspur and Bhimavaram to those returning after the pongal from January 14 to 21. Of these, 158 special buses would be to Hyderabad and 37 would be operated to Vijayawada, according to Regional Manager G. Sudesh Kumar.

In addition to these, a total of 100 specials would also be operated from the city to various towns in Srikakulam after the festival.