Title - Diwali train tickets sold out in mins

CHENNAI: Travelling home for Diwali holidays is going to be tough for those who have not already made their plans. Berths in three of the five special trains announced for the festival from Chennai were sold out just a few minutes after bookings opened on Saturday.The booking pattern also showed that demand for tickets is higher to destinations like Nagercoil and Tirunelveli, among the southern towns. Diwali falls on November 13. Tickets for the Chennai Central-Egmore-Nagercoil scheduled for November 12 were sold soon after booking started. Since the waiting list has also been filled, berths cannot be booked any more for the train which railways introduced from Central after Egmore got saturated.Similarly, berths for the Chennai Egmore-Tirunelveli Special scheduled for November 9 has touched waitlist 295. The train which leaves on Friday has become popular because those who take leave on Monday will be able to enjoy an extended weekend as the festival falls on Tuesday. The trains have been booked by passengers who were not able to get tickets in the scheduled trains operated daily from Egmore. Tickets for special trains from Chennai to Coimbatore and Tuticorin have also been taken. Passengers to neighbouring states are doubly unhappy because flight charges have rocketed because of the festival rush and cancellation of all flights of Kingfisher Airlines."Since all trains to Thiruvananthapuram are full, I thought I would try a train to a southern city and take another train or bus to Kerala, but nothing seems to work out," said Praveen Babu, who was planning a Diwali holiday in Thiruvananthapuram."Diwali and Pongal are the festivals when we are under pressure to offer more berths. We are yet to decide whether to operate more special trains," a senior railway official said.