Summer vacation on, huge rush is being seen at the reservation counter at the Dehradun railway station daily. Trains to cities like lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna and Howrah are running full, railway officers said. The desperate people are being seen standing in serpentine queues for hours at the station to procure Tatkal tickets.
Some of them said that they had been standing in the queue since Thursday night. Compounding the woes of the people, many of the important trains scheduled to start from and terminate at Dehradun railway station are now starting from and terminating at Haridwar station due to renovation works going on along the tracks in Dehradun.
Things might ease as the normal schedule of such trains would resume from May 23, said Dehradun railway station superintendent Kartar Singh.
Singh said that the waiting lists in the sleeper classes have crossed the 150 mark in almost all the trains covering long distance. “We are unaware of any special train being provided to cope with the rush,” he said.
Another railway official said, “To accommodate the extra passengers during the summer rush, the railways authorities each year attach some extra bogies to the long-distance mail and express trains to clear rush of passengers. But I do not know whether extra bogies to long distance trains are being attached this time.” Thousands of people, particularly, the sizeable migrant population settled here are finding it tough to travel to their native places now a days with the summer vacation rush reaching its peak. The waiting lists for most of the trains to major cities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are lengthening every passing day.
Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh) native Amit Kumar who was found jostling at Dehradun reservation counter with others to see whether his number lying in the waiting list had been cleared, said that his number was 50 in the waiting list when he had bought the sleeper ticket around two months ago.
“The railway authorities must announce some special trains to all major towns of UP and Bihar well in advance so that the people can make their travel plans accordingly and get reservation without much hassle,” he added.
Abhishek, another visitor at the station, waiting at the tatkal ticket counter since 7 am, said that the counter would open at 11 am. “However, as things stand now, I stand no chance of procuring tatkal ticket. If needed, I would spend the night here. In case I manage a ticket I would board train on Sunday,” he added. An Auto driver Sohan Singh, native of Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), who has been living in Dehradun for the past five years, said, “My number in the waiting list was 105 when I took ticket for May 20. With the school of my children being closed, I would take them to our native place for a month. I managed a tatkal ticket for Saturday in Upasana Express after spending a night at the counter.”