The travel plans of tens of thousands of people from Kerala who are residing in Bengaluru to visit their home State during Onam have gone awry, with the Railway announcing just one weekend special train.
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) too has not equipped itself to cater to the whopping demand, despite arraying new long-distance buses under KSRTC-Swift earlier this year. With Railway and KSRTC leaving commuters in the lurch, they have been left at the mercy of travel companies that operate approximately 300 private buses. Many of them have more than tripled the per-person fare to over ₹4,500.
The fear is rife that the one-way private bus fare would exceed ₹5,000 as Onam nears. Subsequently, many have dropped plans to travel to Kerala for the festive season.
Narrating her recent ordeal with a private bus operator running services to Thiruvananthapuram from Bengaluru, Devi Biju, a lawyer based in the IT hub said many operators delay or do not refund the ticket fare, even if the cancellations are made well in advance. “They make a fortune selling the same seat to others. A few popular online travel portals are hand in glove with this. I lost ₹2,000 recently and would shortly send a legal notice to the firms, seeking a refund.”
There was also an instance when her entire baggage, which included garments, got soaked since water leaked into the cargo space. “The best alternative is to operate more trains and buses on the route. It is a pity that only a single special train has been announced so far, while KSRTC is dragging its feet. That the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website is terribly slow, is yet another woe,” she added.
Commuters, many of whom were forced to drive the entire route in cars, have been demanding that the government also step in to rein in private bus operators and fix an upper slab on the fare.
Station developed
Railway sources said there is potential to operate more trains in the Bengaluru route, since the Sir M. Visveswaraya Terminal station has been developed in the city. “Commuters could book well in advance so that special trains can be operated when the waiting list exceeds 240. On their part, both Southern Railway and South-Western Railway must agree to accommodate more trains in the sector,” they added.
