Hectic advance train booking for Deepavali - all tickets for trains on 24th October sold out!
Posted on: 27/Jun/2019 11:49:17 AM
The advance booking for train tickets for travel to native places for the occasion of Deepavali festival has commenced. In this process, all the tickets for the trains leaving for southern districts on 24th October has got sold out!
It is a tradition and regular routine for lakhs of families to undertake travel to their respective native places to celebrate the important festivals of Deepavali and Pongal. Most of these families, especially those who need to undertake long-distance journeys, prefer train travel. The facility to book train tickets 120 days in advance was introduced in the year 2015.
This year (2019), the festival of Deepavali falls on Sunday, 27th October. So, it is expected that most of the families planning travel would take trains leaving on 25th October (Friday).
Hence, the facility for the advance train booking for the trains leaving on Friday, 25th October has started at 8.00 AM today (Thursday, 27th June).
Meanwhile, most of the passengers doubting whether seats/berths would be available in trains leaving on 25th October (Friday) have instead booked the tickets for the trains scheduled to leave on 24th October (night).
The booking of advance reservations for the trains leaving on 24th October (Thursday) commenced at 8.00 AM yesterday (Wednesday, 26th June). Most of the seats/berths in most trains were already reserved.
The advance booking was especially hectic for the trains to the southern districts. As at 5.00 PM yesterday (Wednesday, 26th June), the waiting list of passengers booking for the Pandian Express (Chennai-Madurai) for the 2nd class, seats/berths have already reached 235! The same situation prevails for the tickets for other classes as well (waiting list)! The situation is identical for other express trains including Podhigai, Ananthapuri, Nellai, and Muthunagar.
When enquiring with the officials as to how this feverish booking rush will be managed, they informed: ‘We will add extra coaches for the trains where there is a large waiting list. We will also review the plans to operate special trains. The special review meeting of the officers in this regard is scheduled to be conducted during the 1st week of October. Only after this meeting, the schedule regarding the running of special trains for the festive occasion will be announced.
