Bus passengers in Kerala move to trains

Kochi: Despite frequent delays in running of trains, an increased number of short-distance commuters have switched over to the railways for their daily travel needs after the hike in bus fares came into effect from March 1.

The initial trend was reflected in the revenue collection with regard to sale of unreserved tickets in the division.

“There was an increase in the number of passengers from March 1. For instance, on February 28, a total of 1,92, 069 commuters bought unreserved tickets while on March 1, as many as 2,65, 726 did the purchase,” a senior railway official said.

The average passenger traffic in the week starting from February 22 was 1,80,000 while the same rose to 2,30,000 in the week from March 1 to March 7. On March 5, 3,67,246 commuters travelled netting a revenue of Rs 1.06 crore from sale of unreserved tickets. As many as 2,75,762 commuters travelled the next day.

“This, even as, February 26 saw the highest number of commuters travelling in trains within the division — 2, 34, 863, travelling in the week before March one. There is definitely an increase in passenger traffic. A clear trend could be assessed only after a month,” the official said.

“The recent bus fare has further widened the gap between the ticket charges in buses and trains for the same distance. For instance, a commuter can travel 45 km for Rs 10 in passenger trains and 50 km for Rs 29 in Express trains. However, a passenger needs to give Rs 10 to travel over five kms (third fare stage) in ordinary class. The cess being collected in the state transport buses further burdens the commuters,” said P. Krishnakumar, general secretary, Thrissur Railway Passengers Association.