SCR, TGSRTC come to rescue of stranded passengers

Hyderabad: The South Central Railway on Saturday announced that it would run four special trains to manage the surge in passengers resulting from the large-scale cancellation of IndiGo flights here.

The move comes as flyers face significant disruption and long queues at the airport due to the cancellation. A release from the SCR said it is running the special trains to clear the extra rush of passengers to Chennai, Mumbai and Shalimar (Kolkata) from Hyderabad on Saturday.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, which runs Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, here in a release, said it has tied up with Telangana State Road Transport Corporation to support passengers affected by ongoing airline disruptions. As a temporary measure, special TGSRTC services are being made available from RGIA on Saturday to help travellers reach home or onward destinations with less stress. “With passenger comfort and the current challenges in mind, this joint effort aims to offer a small but meaningful bit of relief for the passengers,” GMR said.

Meanwhile, as many as 74 outbound Indigo flights were cancelled from here on Saturday, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport sources said. Similarly, 70 incoming flights were cancelled during the day, they said.

The flight cancellations drew ire from passengers, who thronged the IndiGo counters at the airport demanding to know the exact situation. “This is utter nonsense! Digiyatra done, message received that departure has been rescheduled ahead of the scheduled departure and now upon arriving at Hyderabad airport coming to know at the security checkpoint that Indigo flight is cancelled,” Tarun Singha, former Ministry of Defence spokesperson said in a post on ‘X’.

“But the thing is if you don’t shout they do nothing. Example at Hyderabad Airport, there was no staff no flight information for an hour. Then a fellow passenger started shouting on mic and an Indigo staff appeared finally,” a netizen said in a post.

IndiGo in a statement said it is working determinedly to bring its operations back on track across the network with its teams focussing on stabilising schedules, reducing delays, and supporting customers through this period. Today the number of cancellations has dropped below 850 flights, much lower compared to yesterday, it further said.