Special services fail to ease Onam travel rush to Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite the introduction of 112 special train services to Kerala from various cities for Onam, the travel rush shows no signs of easing. KSRTC is also operating 90 special services, but passengers continue to remain on waiting lists for both regular and special trains and buses. With the demand remaining high, airfares and private bus tickets have increased sharply. The Railways and KSRTC are preparing to operate more special services based on passenger demand.

Additional special trains to Kochuveli will operate from Bengaluru's Yesvantpur at 11.30 pm on Friday, from Bengaluru SMVT at 3.15 pm on Saturday, and from Mumbai at 4 pm on August 23. Another additional service will run from Charlapalli in Hyderabad to Kottayam at 7.15 am on August 23. The Railways is also considering additional special trains from Delhi and Chennai.

Private bus fares soar

Bengaluru, which has the highest number of private luxury bus services from Kerala, usually has ticket fares ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,800. However, with the Onam rush, fares have increased to between Rs 4,500 and Rs 6,000. Some tickets are reportedly being sold on the black market for as much as Rs 8,000.

The usual airfare from Bengaluru to Thiruvananthapuram is around Rs 5,000, but it has now risen to between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000. Fares from Chennai to Thiruvananthapuram, which normally cost around Rs 5,500, have crossed Rs 7,500. Airfares from North Indian cities have also surged, with tickets from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram costing between Rs 12,700 and Rs 15,400, while fares from Delhi range from Rs 14,500 to Rs 16,000.