Jamshedpur, May 6 : Tatanagar Railway Station is witnessing an upsurge in the number of the passengers travelling to tourist places. Long queues could be witnessed at the ticket booking counters. Majority of the trains are running packed.
Vacations have caused a huge rush of commuters in trains on long routes. A long waiting list is causing inconvenience to many, who are not getting confirmation of their seats.
The waiting lists in several trains like Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Express, Sambalpur-Howrah Ispat Express, Puri-New Delhi Puroshottam Express, Howrah-Ahmedabad Express and Tatanagar Jammu Tawi is almost exhausted.
Railway authorities informed that extra coaches have been attached to JallainwalaBagh Express and Tata-Allepy while fresh requisition has been sent to South Eastern Railway for additional coaches in Tata-Chapra and Tata-Dhanbad South-Eastern Express.
A travel agent said: “The Delhi route is the busiest and there is no ticket available till the end of this month. All major trains on the Delhi route are witnessing heavy rush and packed to capacity.”
Jugsalai based agent Anil Rao said in the month of May, most of the schools get closed. People flock towards hill stations and other tourist destinations and the booking for the same begins two months in advance. Thus, on a daily basis they address more than 300 queries regarding reservations.
Tatanagar station manager O P Sharma said every year during thesummer 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.
�Extra coaches have been attached to some long distance trains from May to clear the rush of passengers. We have also introduced additional coaches slightly ahead of schedule but still the rush is the same,� said an official at Chakradharpur railway reservation control room.
�During the summer vacation, people ferrying between Delhi and Kolkata increases in manifold so it is essential to ensure proper journey of the passengers. We have opened an additional ticket booking counter taking the numbers to seven for the passengers,� noted a senior officer of SER.
�Acknowledging the seriousness of the problem at the peak of the vacations the railway authorities should work alternative measures to check the heavy rush at the ticket booking counter,� said Dr U K Srivastava, official, Chotanagpur Passengers Association,(CPA).