Hyderabad: Railway, bus stations witness huge rush ahead of Sankranti

The passenger rush is likely to increase in the next two days as most of them had booked their travel tickets for the weekend.

Hyderabad: Railway and bus stations in the city on Wednesday witnessed a huge rush of passengers heading to their native cities and towns to celebrate the Sankranti festival.

At Secunderabad, Kacheguda and Nampally railway stations, big festive rush was seen with students, working professionals and scores of families on platforms waiting to board trains to their destinations mainly in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

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The Secunderabad Railway Station, which is the biggest railway station in the twin cities, had the rush peaking since early hours. The South Central Railway (SCR) is operating over a hundred special trains to clear Sankranti rush.

The passenger rush is likely to increase in the next two days as most of them had booked their travel tickets for the weekend.

Amid reports of a resurgence in Covid infections in some countries and following the union Health Ministry advisory follow Covid protocol, the SCR officials were taking steps to ensure adherence to Covid-19 precautions advising the passengers to wear wearing masks, maintain physical distance and hand sanitization.

Meanwhile, bus stations also saw heavy rush of passengers to board buses to their destinations. Both, Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) and Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) were crowded with passengers.

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) as well as Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) are operating special services to clear the festive rush. The TSRTC is running about 4,400 special buses without any increase in fares and APRTC is running about 6,400 special buses.

TSRTC Managing Director VC Sajjanar said all necessary arrangements have been made to take citizens safely to their destinations and measures were at place to ensure that passengers do not face any inconvenience.

Meanwhile, it has become expensive for commuters who chose to travel to their native towns in buses operated by private travels. Many private operators have increased their bus fares for Vijayawada, Kurnool, and Rajahmundry. On the other hand, the air fare too had increased with airliners selling economy tickets too at exorbitant rates.

Most of the important junctions and roads across the city leading to the national and state highways have started to witness an increase in vehicular traffic.