RailEnquiry

GUWAHATI: There has been a drastic fall in the number of people from the northeast travelling to southern states despite a considerable decline in the count of those fleeing those states. Reservations for weekly trains to Bangalore have come down drastically. On Wednesday, only 1000 people arrived in Guwahati on a special train from Howrah.

Very few people are booking tickets for trains to Bangalore and other southern cities after the exodus of NE people over the last one week. Such is the impact of this reverse migration that even the 'tatkal' ticket counters at Gauhati railway station, which usually witness long queues of people, are also not having too many ticket-seekers now.

Bangalore is a popular destination for people of the northeast and many students and working professionals from NE staying there prefer to travel by trains. It is also a cheap mode of transportation for those who travel to the southern city for employment opportunities.

"The Bangalore Express and the Yesvantpur Express leave on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On these days, it is a common sight to see people jostling for space to get near the ticket counters. But after the exodus, there has been a drastic fall in the demand for tickets. Even the 'tatkal' counter is virtually out of business," said an employee of the reservation centre.

When asked what about the status of bookings for the weekly Guwahati-bound trains from Bangalore, he said, "Bookings for Guwahati-bound trains is almost full."

However, the chief reservation supervisor differed, "It is the lean season that is contributing to the fall of people booking their tickets as most students leave for Bangalore in June and July." Besides Bangalore, there are also other weekly trains from Guwahati that go to Chennai and Trivandum.

The number of passengers arriving here on special trains has reduced to a mere 1000 on Wednesday as compared to other days of the past one week. On Wednesday, there was only a single special train from Howrah. "There was no rush on Wednesday on board the special train that arrived from Howrah at 12:30 pm. The train had passengers but there was no rush as compared to other days of the last one week," said a GRP official.