Christmas holiday plans go awry for Bengaluru Malayalees

KOZHIKODE: Bengaluru Malayalees have once again been deprived of a chance to spend Christmas holidays in Kerala due to the unavailability of tickets in special trains and buses. Even the newly rolled out Bengaluru-Ernakulam Vande Bharat couldn’t stop the travel woes.

Private buses have increased their fares drastically. The ticket fare from Bengaluru to Ernakulam has been increased to up to Rs 4,000. While 138 special trains were allowed across the country, the Indian Railways allowed only one train for Kerala. Last time, two special trains were allowed from Bengaluru to Kerala. But this time, only the Hubballi-Thiruvananthapuram special has been announced. There are five special trains from Bengaluru to South Kerala in connection with the Sabarimala season.

Due to the Sabarimala season, KSRTC has limited services to Bengaluru. However, considering the plight of Malayali passengers, Karnataka allocated 60 more state buses to take Malayalees to travel home.

“Tickets will not be available in Vande Bharat till mid-January. There is no space to sit in the general compartment'' -Sreejesh, IT employee in Bengaluru.