Rlys finds it tough to manage festive rush

LUCKNOW::Passengers who intend to head to their home towns for Diwali are having a tough time getting their berths reserved as the trains are running all packed this festive season . However, the Railways is set to start a series of fresh special trains to meet out the rush.

Railway officials classified the festive season into pre and post festive season, which they said was seen never before. “The rush is massive this time,” a railway official said.

He said the trains heading to the prime stations like Mumbai, Delhi, Varanasi and Chandigarh were running packed, while some had long waiting lists. Officials said the rush this season seemed even more than what was expected. Berth reservations ahead of Diwali, in prime trains including Lucknow Mail, AC Superfast, Vaishali Express and others, were full. For example, on October 18, the waiting list in Lucknow Mail in 3rd AC is 217, similarly in AC Superfast, the waiting list in AC 3 on the same date is 388. Interestingly, the seats are available on October 19, the day of Diwali.

Besides, the less preferred trains like Mau Anandvihar and Gorakhpur Anand Vihar too are running packed on October 18. “Pre-festive rush seems high this time as most of the trains towards Delhi and other important stations are packed”, a Northern Railway (NR) official said.

On 19 October, the day of Diwali, the trains have room and berths are available. But in later days like October 20, 22 and 23, there are long waiting lists.

The situation has almost paralysed the attempts of NR to cater to the festive rush. NR has already introduced more than two dozen trains, but it has yet to bring down the queue of passengers in the never ending waiting list. Other than these, the situation is the same in other trains towards Delhi and other stations. There are around 25 trains that shuttle between Lucknow and Delhi. “Special trains have been introduced to facilitate the passengers. It will also be ensured that all the counters at the Charbagh railway station remain open throughout to assist the passengers,” said Shivendra Shukla, senior divisional commercial manager, NR, Lucknow.