Heavy rush at railway and bus stations

Vijayawada: Heavy rush of passengers was witnessed at railway and bus stations on Sunday. With non-availability of berths in many trains, passengers suffered a lot. All compartments were filled in trains leaving for Howrah, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Tirupati, Shirdi and other destinations. General compartments were overcrowded as passengers seen sitting near toilets to reach their destinations.

Even the special trains were also packed to capacity. A similar situation prevailed at Pandit Nehru Bus Station. All buses towards Hyderabad were reserved. There were serpentine queues with passengers willing to travel in special buses (ordinary buses) by paying extra fare.

A railway TTE attributed the rush to summer vacation, marriage season and Sunday. A couple of travel agencies were reportedly selling tickets on other names which were reserved earlier. Passengers stranded at railway station were helpless waiting for next services. They have to sit on the floor, along with baggage and children to catch next train. The only solace for passengers was change in weather which was not so hot.

A majority of passengers, who stopped at Vijayawada railway station, suffered as railway authorities failed to run special trains to meet the rush. “We don’t have proper seating here and waiting hours together with the hope that we can find some place in any train. Our children are, too, young to adjust to the conditions here,” lamented Y Murali and his wife Kanta.

“The railway station has 10 platforms and about one lakh passengers travel every day from here. As it is a junction, more than 300 trains pass through the station. A help desk to deal with passengers who are unaware of train schedule is an immediate necessity. If the passengers cannot travel in any service, the desk can guide them catch an alternative train so that crowd at the station can be reduced.

By Noor Shaik