Poor ticket sales: Special trains to TS, AP cancelled

Services announced over last few weeks for post-school exam rush

The railways announced a slew of cancellations on Friday due to effects of the Covid-19 outbreak. Almost all of the train services cancelled so far are of special trains, announced over the past few weeks to cater to increased rush postschool examinations.

Major special trains connecting the twin cities to hubs in Andhra Pradesh such as Vijayawada, Kakinada, Machlipatnam and Visakhapatnam have been cancelled.

Other major trains — Hyderabad to Kalaburagi, Mumbai LTT to Karimnagar, Chennai to

Secunderabad, Hyderabad to Ernakulam — have also been cancelled.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, an South Central Railway official said cancellations of booked tickets had skyrocketed in the past few days. “Normally, when counted with waiting lists and so on, our cancellation rate is less than 18 per cent. Now it is more than 40 per cent across all trains (special and regular). The travellers are choosing to stay safe and not travel anywhere,” he said.

The official added that despite the cancellations, the occupancy rate in these trains wasn't so bad. “However, it didn’t make sense operating special trains when tickets in regular trains are available so easily,” he said. The official indicated that more cancellations were on the cards in the coming days and the announcements could happen at short notice.

Meanwhile, the cancellations have led to a great deal of confusion and tension among travellers. Since mostly special trains are being stopped, travellers with booked tickets in them are wondering if they should make alternate plans.