Nagpur: Hundreds of railway passengers trying to book tickets for journeys from Pune and Mumbai to Nagpur during Diwali in the past couple of days were greeted with a ‘Regret’ message within minutes of the reservation window opening. Now, they are left with virtually no regular train option for the festive rush. The same has been observed for other popular destinations in the country.
Because they couldn’t secure tickets despite logging in precisely at the opening time of booking, passengers said they were frustrated. “This time I was hopeful of getting a confirmed ticket after assurance from our railway minister about IRCTC app. Ordinary travellers like us didn’t get any ticket while agents got confirmed tickets,” said Anand Saha, a resident of Chandrapur who travels to Pune via Nagpur.
Pravin Dabli, ex-ZRUCC member, said the Pune and Mumbai routes are high-density and require more regular daily trains. Central Railway must seriously think about introducing more trains as passengers load has increased manifold,” he said. The anger spilled over on social media, with passengers questioning the railway ministry and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over the lack of adequate seats in regular trains during the festive rush. The upcoming Ganpathi and Mahalaxmi puja festivals too have led to a rush of passengers, yet tickets are available on the waitlist or RAC. But unavailability of train tickets during the Diwali rush is an annual phenomenon. However, it seems nothing has changed. “Special trains too fail to cater to the demand. Central Railway officials didn’t respond to TOI calls in this regard.