Huge crowds both at railway stations and bus terminals have become a common sight in the State capital just before the Holi fiesta. Students, employed personnel of other States just cannot afford to miss the festival of colours known for its earthy flavour with folk songs and traditional dishes.
The upcoming festival of colours has kicked off a massive rush for tickets on Bihar-bound trains and buses, covering few predominant routes via Patna and other adjoining state. Advance booking in long distance buses for Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh has also gained pace.
Denizens with their family members were seen juggling to confirm the rail tickets at the Ranchi Railway station. Similar situation was witnessed at the Khadgarha bus junction and other bus stands where several people standing in queue were trying to avail the bus facility for various destinations.
Witnessing the situation and to combat heavy rush, special holi train service has been provided by the railway for the convenience of denizens travelling to other places. “As per the requirement, we started the holi special train service from March 22. The train will departure from Hatia station at 5:30 PM and will reach Patna next morning returning back on same day at 8:05 AM from Patna,” informed, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Neeraj Kumar of Ranchi division.
“The railway has started providing extra coaches to selected trains from March 5. As the holi special train is considered, facilities of 2 AC coaches including 12 general coaches have been provided to manage the crowd travelling to Bihar,” added Kumar.
Similarly, huge rush of students residing in neighbouring states and people was seen at major bus junctions where almost all the bus tickets have been sold out for all major routes. Travel agencies engaged in the business have confirmed that maximum booking are done during Durga Puja and Holi festival. People hailing from other states are even ready to pay more than the prescribed price to celebrate the occasion with their family members.
“We have been constantly travelling from Ranchi to Patna, considering the crowd and festive season. All the tickets have been sold out few days back and even though there is a huge demand for tickets,” said, Manohar, owner of private bus which cover routes from Ranchi to Patna.