Additional bogies in long distance trains to meet ticket booking rush

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur : Passengers travelling during the summer vacation in May will not have to face berth pangs, thanks to South Eastern Railway (SER).After announcing three summer special trains -� Shalimar-Jaipur Summer Special Express, CSTM-Shalimar Superfast Summer Special� and Tatanagar-Kacheguda Summer Special, SER has decided to provide additional bogies in long distance trains facing huge ticket booking rush.

SER headquarters in Garden Reach issued a notification for introduction of one extra AC-3 tier coach. The trains which will get the facility of an extra AC- 3tier coach include Up and Dn Howrah-Sambalpur Express, which travels via Tatanagar railway station and  Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity  Express. According to a notification, the facility beginning today will be extended till June 30 in both the trains.

Sources in Garden Reach said that keeping in view the rush, a summer special train might be introduced for New Delhi in the second  week of May.

Officials at the Tatanagarcomputerised railway booking counter revealed that waiting lists in several trains like Puri- New Delhi Neelanchal Express, Purushottam Express and Howrah-Ahmedabad Express is rising for the entire May and June month.

An official said every year during the summer vacation such rush is witnessed. Steps are being taken to ease the rush. He went on to inform that South Eastern Railway has decided to attach extra coaches to several long distance trains passing through Tatanagar to accommodate passengers.

Chief reservation supervisor at Tatanagar  C.S. Rao  confirmed the heavy rush to book tickets in advance. � Yes the waiting lists in several trains such as Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Express, Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express and Howrah-Ahmedabad Express have crossed the century mark for second and third weeks of May,� he said. He added apart from Tatanagar, bookings for other places under Chakradharpur railway division were also in demand.

The Tatanagar railway station is the only A1-category railway station under Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway ( SER). The footfall at the station is gradually on the rise because of increasing number of trains and also because of the fact that Tatanagar falls on the Howrah-Mumbai main line. Several important trains travel via Tatanagar, including the high-profile Rajdhani Express and Duronto Express. The station sees a daily traffic of 90 mail, express and passenger trains, besides a footfall of more than 60,000 passengers.