Sankranthi Surge: Festival travellers hit with hefty private bus fares; railway, bus stations overflow

Hyderabad: Fares of private buses have skyrocketed and crossed the Rs 2,000 mark per seat for a one-way trip from Hyderabad to various places such as Visakhapatnam, the twin Godavari districts, Vijayawada, Guntur, Ongole and Tirupati over this weekend, with many in the city scrambling to get home for Sankranti.

AC tickets cross Rs 5,000

For instance, the private bus operators who usually charge Rs 400 to 600 for a non-AC seater on normal days from Hyderabad and Vijayawada have increased the fare to Rs 1,000 for a one-way trip. Regarding the AC seater the ticket price crossed Rs 2,000 burdening the common man. Similarly, on the Hyderabad-Visakhpatnam route, the non-AC seater now costs Rs 3,300 against the Rs 1,500 during normal days.

In some cases, the AC bus ticket to Visakhapatnam crossed the Rs 5,000 mark for a one-way trip.

M Sampath, a techie who planned to travel to his home town Visakhapatnam from Miyapur in Hyderabad for Sankranthi faced a tough time with a private bus operator.

“Almost a month ago, I booked an AC sleeper ticket to Visakhapatnam with a private bus operator for Rs 1,800 to travel to my home town on a Thursday night. The private bus operator cancelled the service 24 hours before the journey without any prior information,” Sampath told NewsMeter.

Irked by the indifferent attitude, Sampath called the private bus operator to question the cancellation only to receive a sarcastic reply. The private bus operator asked Sampath to purchase a ticket to Visakhapatnam for the same bus on Friday night for Rs 3,000 or cancel his ticket to receive a total refund within seven days after the cancellation of the date of the journey. With no option left, Sampath booked a ticket to his home town with another private bus operator for Rs 2,500.

RTC buses booked weeks in advance

Another passenger, Srinivas Srivastava, a native of Vijayawada, echoed a similar frustration while leaving from Bala Nagar.

“It has become routine for the private bus operators to cash on the festive demand. Even though the RTC operates special buses from Hyderabad to various destinations, seats are sold out weeks in advance. The festive season is the right time to meet loved ones and family but with no option left, I booked a non-AC seater bus ticket from a private bus operator for Rs 1,200 to Vijayawada,” he said.

Heavy rush sees fights for seats

With special trains operated by the South Central Railway (SCR) getting sold out months before the festival, buses remain the most preferred mode of transportation for the commoner.

Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) announced 4,484 special buses to accommodate the festive rush. These buses began plying from January 6 to 15 from Hyderabad to various places to ensure a hassle-free journey for the passengers during the festive season.

In a major sigh of relief for women passengers, the TSRTC, following the Mahalakshmi scheme of the Congress government, has extended free travel for women to these special buses too but only till state borders. Due to this, hordes of women passengers were seen at the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS), Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) and near Uppal bus depots heading towards their hometowns for the festival. There were also a couple of incidents reported by TSRTC, where women engaged in verbal duels for occupying the seats during their bus journey.

Railway stations, bus stations filled to brim

The Secunderabad and Hyderabad (Nampally) railway stations witnessed a heavy rush on Friday as lakhs of people including students, working professionals and scores of families waited on platforms to board trains to their destinations mainly in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to celebrate Sankranthi.

The Secunderabad Railway Station witnessed passenger congestion even from the early hours of Friday. The SCR is operating over 100 special trains to clear the Sankranthi rush.

Meanwhile, bus stations also witnessed a surge in travellers. Both the MGBS and the JBS were crowded with passengers to board the special buses operated by the TSRTC and the APSRTC.

TSRTC managing director VC Sajjanar said that all necessary arrangements were made to ensure that passengers face no issues during the festive season. “We have installed CCTV cameras in 36 locations across Hyderabad to monitor the passenger flow and arrange special buses based on the demand. Apart from that, drinking water, shelter and public address system facilities were arranged at Uppal, Aram Ghar and JBS where passengers will be high during the festive season,” he said.