No special trains to Bengaluru, buses start fleecing
The seats in most of the special Karnataka services announced too have been booked.
Kochi: It would be a costly affair for Malayalis to travel home from Bengaluru this Christmas. The delay in announcing special services for Christmas season by the railways and the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation has resulted in private luxury operators and the Karnataka RTC charging exorbitant rates. With reservation seats in the normal services of Kerala RTC buses for the weekend before Christmas already getting sold out, the private buses are charging a minimum of Rs 2,500 with some travellers charging Rs 3,000 and above, three times the normal fare of Rs 1,200. This even as flight tickets on the same day are available from Rs 5,980 onwards.
“A glance through booking sites such as Redbus on December 22 will reveal the picture. The tickets have already been sold out in half the number of buses while the others are charging Rs 2,500- Rs 3,000 for one-way travel from Bengaluru to destinations such as Thiruvananthapuram,” said Kiran Raj, a techie from Thiruvananthapuram working in Bengaluru.
The Karnataka RTC has already announced 15 special services from Bengaluru to destinations such as Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Kozhikode. However, the corporation is charging an extra Rs 500 to Rs 600. The seats in most of the special Karnataka services announced too have been booked. Meanwhile, the railways so far has announced only a single train — Sabari special— operating every Tuesday in the whole of December.
“The Christmas specials will be announced only around December 10. However, the special trains will be Suvidha class which charge higher than normal trains and follow flexible ticketing system,” said a senior railway official. Though the Kerala RTC would operate special services with “affordable” fares, most of the services will be through the longer Manathavaday- Kutta route instead of the shortest route via Salem.