Came home to celebrate Christmas; confused and worried not knowing what to do; students and employees from other states in predicament

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Those who came home from faraway places to celebrate the Christmas holiday are in a big crisis now. After the celebrations, a good number of people are stranded without tickets to go back to their workplaces and study centers. There is a situation where regular means such as trains and buses cannot be used during the weekend. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mysore routes have more passengers.

Train tickets were sold out well in advance. The situation is similar in buses. There is a situation where Tatkal tickets cannot even be relied upon. Tatkal tickets go into waiting list within minutes of sale. Premium Tatkal fares are similar to flights. Taking advantage of the current opportunity, operators are charging higher fares for private bus services as well.

The situation is the same for travel within the state of Kerala as it is to distant places. Tickets are not available on any of the trains going from Thiruvananthapuram to Malabar side. With the New Year holiday coming up next week, passengers are worried that the traffic and ticket prices will increase even more. A special train has been announced for some routes but the system is not adequate as the number of passengers are more than usual.

Earlier, ticket booking was allowed 120 days in advance, but now only 60 days advance time is given. This also led to less availability of tickets. Tickets to major cities are not available from Kerala during the week of New Year celebrations.