People seek more special trains to meet summer rush in Visakhapatnam

There is a huge demand for berths on trains from Visakhapatnam to various destinations but only four special trains are being operated to cater to the summer rush. Trains from Visakhapatnam to various destinations run to full capacity almost all through the year, particularly during the summer vacation.

The berths in trains to destinations like Tirupati, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi are in high demand. The few special trains and augmentation of coaches fail to meet the summer rush. The wedding season and opening up of tourist spots after their closure for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has also seen an unprecedented rush.

In the absence of dedicated daily trains to Bengaluru and Chennai, people of the city are forced to depend on the meagre quota of berths on passing trains. Passengers from the city book their tickets from Ichchapuram, Vizianagaram and other stations, and board their train at Visakhapatnam Junction.

Unlike in the past, Waltair Division of East Coast Railway (E Co R) has temporarily augmented one sleeper coach each to six originating trains from Visakhapatnam to Kacheguda, LTT (Mumbai), Kollam, Tatanagar, SaiNagar Shirdi and Gandhidhar. Rail users, while appreciating the gesture of the officials of Waltair, say these coaches do not suffice their requirements.

Waltair Division is operating four special trains, two each to Secunderabad and Tirupati. Special trains are needed to Bengaluru and Chennai. While there is no dedicated train to Bengaluru, only two weekly trains are being operated to Chennai from Visakhapatnam, and there is a huge demand to both these destinations.

There should be no dearth of rakes to run the special trains as the Visakhapatnam originating Samata and Swarnajayanthi express trains have been recently given LHB coaches. There are four conventional ICF coaches available with Waltair, and they can be used to run the special trains to Bengaluru and Chennai, say rail activists.

The Railway Board had cleared the proposal to run five more trips of the Visakhapatnam-Yelahanka (Bengaluru)-Visakhapatnam special, which was run for a single trip, in January this year. The E Co R authorities had sought concurrence from the South Western Railway (SWR) but the five trips have not been operated so far.

Satellite stations

“We are making efforts to run special trains to Bengaluru, Chennai and Varanasi but operational problems are coming in the way. Visakhapatnam is a terminal station and as the city is growing, development of satellite stations seems to be the only solution,” Divisional Railway Manager Anup Satpathy told The Hindu, when the issue was brought to his notice.