Hyderabad: Sankranti is just around the corner and there is a mad scramble among people to travel to their native places either in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh.
Educational institutes too have a break from January 13 and accordingly, people have their travel plans ready beginning Thursday itself.
To cope with the festive rush, the TSRTC and the South Central Railways have come with special bus services and additional trains. The TSRTC is plying as many as 4,233 buses whereas the SCR has planned over 540 train trips between two Telugu-speaking states.
A senior TSRTC senior said that during the festival there will be high
demand for services to Vishakapatnam, Amalapuram, Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Polavaram, Guntur, Nellore, Kandukuru, and Eluru. The corporation has decided to extend a rebate of 10 per cent for those who book a two-way ticket.
The SCR authorities will operate over 540 trips of special train services
till January 20 between the two Telugu states and beyond. Arun Kumar Jain, general manager of South Central Railway, appealed to the rail users seeking reserved accommodation to book online. Similarly, he said, passengers wishing to travel by unreserved coaches can purchase their tickets through UTS on the mobile app, to avoid queues at the counters.
Not to miss the opportunity, private travel operators are also busy booking trips for the festival. According to Akbar Ali Khan of Metro Travels, most of the eight-seaters are booked. There is also a high demand from the Ayappa devotees to go to Sabarimala,” he said.
