Festive rush overwhelms transport hubs

Railway station and bus stand packed during Diwali season

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The onset of Diwali holidays has triggered a mass exodus as individuals rush to their native towns for the festive season. On Thursday, the railway station, Cidco, and central bus stand (CBS) experienced a surge in passengers, with railways and buses reaching full capacity within minutes. Despite reservations being fully booked, many travelers are venturing without tickets, prompting the railway administration to take action.

Students and working professionals hailing from various districts, such as Nashik, Akola, Jalgaon, Dhule, and Amravati, come to the city for education, jobs, and business. The CBS witnessed an overflow of passengers on Thursday, leading the State Transport (ST) corporation to deploy additional buses to accommodate the increasing demand. However, delays in bus arrivals left passengers waiting, and this situation is expected to persist until Sunday.

Rail travel, particularly to destinations like Parbhani, Nanded, Mumbai, Nashik, and Hyderabad, is the preferred mode of transportation. Special Nanded-Panvel trains, scheduled from November 10 to 17 by the South Central Railway, are being introduced to ease the festive rush. With most railway reservations fully booked today, passengers are grappling with the inconvenience of securing a seat, often resorting to traveling on the waiting list.

Action against 735 passengers

An inspection was conducted at the railway station between 6 am and 9 pm on Wednesday. Supervised by the divisional railway manager Neeti Sarkar of Nanded division, the inspection involved 36 ticket inspectors, five Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, and senior divisional commercial manager Nagendra Prasad. A total of 608 ticketless passengers, 111 with irregular tickets, and 16 with unbooked luggage were identified, resulting in action against 735 individuals. A fine of Rs 4.36 lakh was collected during this campaign.