Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, March 5: With Holi round the corner, all buses and trains heading to Bihar are going chock-a-block with passengers. Long route buses are all booked from 3rd March to 7th March as passengers have made advanced booking of tickets.
Sources said people are forced to travel by sitting on benches in the long route buses as there is no space to accommodate more passengers than the maximum seating capacity. Even chairs are being used to accommodate more passengers, sources said.
The buses fully booked are mostly going to Siwan, Chhapra, Motihari, Arrah, Buxar, Purnia, Champaran, Bettiah, Sasaram, Muzzaffarpur, Aurangabad and Gaya. On Sunday, more than 60 buses left for Bihar with an overload of passengers. Many passengers are unable to get tickets due to advance booking.
According to Uday Sharma, president of Bus Owners Association of Jamshedpur, “All buses are full. The crowd of passengers is in control now. But in the next two days, the number of passengers would go up. We will not compromise with safety of passengers and we cannot carry more passengers than the total capacity of the buses.”
Private vehicles are also being booked, but at a premium. Many passengers are booking them out of helplessness. Meanwhile, trains are also running full with passengers. Despite extra coaches in several trains, the trains have no space to accommodate more passengers. The bookings are full till 11th March and the waiting list has crossed 200 in some trains. South Eastern Railway sources said that three Holi special trains have been started. These trains would go via Tatanagar and will have extra bogies, sources said.