The announcement of the new Railway zone, the South Coast Railway, with its headquarters at Visakhapatnam, has put the Visakhapatnam Junction in a mare’s nest.
The South Central Railway (SCR) and East Coast Railways (ECoR) are turning a deaf ear to the Visakhapatnam junction despite the massive demand for special trains this Sankranthi season has become a pain in the neck for the passengers here, allege rail activists on social media.
At a time when the passenger rush is at its peak, the SCR specials are bypassing the main Visakhapatnam Junction station, and meanwhile, the ECoR is content with only extending the existing trains, which have been run as ‘specials’ for the past few years, despite their high patronage.
With the Centre announcing a new railway zone South Coast Railway (SCoR), headquartered in Visakhapatnam, nearly four years ago, the SCR, which was earlier operating many special trains between Secunderabad and Visakhapatnam, the biggest city in the State, for Sankranthi, no longer seems to be interested in doing so. Almost all the SCR specials are diverted via Duvvada and Pendurthi to Srikakulam without touching the Visakhapatnam junction.
Meanwhile, the ECoR announced the extension of the existing special trains as the ‘Sankranthi special’ between Visakhapatnam and Secunderabad only a few days ago.
Passengers at loss
Trains are the preferred choice of travel for most people in view of the comparatively lower fare, safety and comfort compared to buses. The railway authorities concerned need not be reminded, year after year, on the huge demand for berths during Sankranthi.
All the regular trains from Visakhapatnam to various destinations, especially those between Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru and Visakhapatnam, are fully booked before and after the festival.
The specials have to be announced at least a few weeks in advance, as is done in the case of the Sri Jagannath Rath Yatra festival in Puri, to enable the travellers to reserve their tickets in advance.
The special trains bypassing Visakhapatnam junction, halt for only two minutes at Duvvada and Pendurthi stations, and there is a mad scramble as scores of passengers have to board and alight within the short time.
“This is one of the causes for passengers often slipping and falling at Duvvada. Further, there are no local trains for passengers to shuttle between these local stations and the main station,” says K. Eswar, secretary of the Duvvada Railway User’s Association.
The APSRTC relief
The Visakhapatnam Region of APSRTC is operating 40 special buses at ‘regular fares’ between Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam from Jan 9 to 13. Special buses are being operated from Visakhapatnam to various destinations in North Andhra like Srikakulam, Palakonda, Salur, Parvathipuram and Ichchapuram from Jan 10 to 14. A total of 150 special buses would be operated to these destinations.
Special buses will be operated for the return journey to various destinations, based on the demand, from Jan 16 to 21. The private bus operators are doing brisk business in view of the festival rush.
