Rlys stations and bus terminus burst with festival rush

The heavy rush of the passengers was witnessed at the Secunderabad railway station and Mahatma Gandhi bus terminus (MGBS) here on Saturday due to the Dussehra holidays.

People who have not booked tickets in advance are adding up to the unprecedented rush at the railway stations in a hurry to find a space in the jam-packed general compartments of trains. The rush is giving private bus operators an opportunity to make a quick buck out of the hapless travellers.

The Railway Protection Force constables are also having a tough time in managing crowd at the railway stations. Heavy rush is witnessed in almost all trains bound to coastal Andhra Pradesh such as Godavari, Gautami, Coconada, Bidar-Machilipatnam, Intercity, Padmavathi, Narayanadri, Visakha and Garibrath.

Nine special trains are also introduced for Dussehra holidays operating between major stations like Rajahmundry-Vizianagaram; Vizianagaram-Vijayawada; Vijayawada-Tirupati; Tirupati-Anakapalle; Yesvantpur-Bhubaneswar; Bhubaneswar-Bangalore Cantt.

Meanwhile, the APSRTC in a statement on Wednesday said that it will operate about 1,265 special buses from Hyderabad to various cities and towns.

A total number of 285 busses to Vijayawada, 207 busses to Guntur, 173 busses to Ongole and 168 busses to Kurnool are introduced. The TSRTC is operating 4,480 special buses from Hyderabad to various destinations.

To clear long queues at tolls, staff carry a POS machine to the vehicles to speed up the process of payment. The state transport authorities have urged people to plan their travel accordingly.