Soon, train passengers set to face ticket blues

Hyderabad: With Dasara and Diwali festivals approaching, securing train tickets to the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Kolkata will be a herculean task as most trains are already fully booked for the peak travel season. Surprisingly, seats are being reversed even for Sankranti, which is four months away. Taking advantage of the situation, travel agents are charging double for tatkal tickets.

South Central Railways (SCR) runs trains to major destinations in Andhra Pradesh, such as Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Nellore, Kakinada, Narasapur, Bhimavaram, Eluru, Ongole, Vizianagaram, and Tirupati, and also to Odisha, Bihar, and Kolkata.

In these stretches, a majority of the express trains, including Kakinada Port Express, Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express, Vijayawada InterCity Express, Krishna Express, East Coast Express, Falaknuma Express, and others, are fully reversed till November 5. People who tried to book tickets from the second week of September on the IRCTC website found that it displayed the'regret’ message (which means no seats are available) for both sleeper and AC class for many express trains at these stretches. Surprisingly few superfast trains to Andhra Pradesh are fully booked even for Sankranti, which is on January 10, 11, 12, 13, four months away.

A few passengers pointed out that, taking advantage of the situation, travel agents are charging double the price. The usual price for the Secunderabad Junction to Vijayawada journey is Rs 300 to Rs 500; currently it has risen up to Rs 1000, and in the upcoming festive period, the tatkal rates may increase further. They also alleged that instead of running special trains, increasing bogies in existing express trains would be easier.

“Almost all the super fast trains that go towards Andhra Pradesh are fully booked, as I wanted to book a ticket to Kakinada Port for my mother for October 2 but could not book, and when I approached a travel agent, he asked me to double the rate of the ticket; usually 3AC cost Rs 855; he was charging Rs 1200,” said Sai Teja, an IT employee and resident of Kukatpally.

“Every year we face the same problem; due to some emergency or official work, we are forced to take the help of travel agents during the festive season by paying double fare. I was also forced to take the help of travel agents to pay trouble for tickets. It would be better if South Central Railways, along with special trains, also increased the coaches in the trains,” said Robin, a resident of RK Puram. Meanwhile, a senior officer of SCR has planned to run 300 special trains, similarly to last year, to clear the festive rush, and as per the demand, the railway runs special trains in various destinations.