Title - No seats in trains bound for New Delhi, Mumbai

VARANASI: Booking a confirmed reservation ticket for the upcoming Dussehra and Diwali holidays is getting difficult because of long waiting list in the Delhi and Mumbai bound trains. No seats are available in many trains from November 1 to November 6.

"I have to reach my home in Varanasi for Diwali and I am trying to book a ticket from New Delhi to Varanasi for November 1, however, most of the trains on the railways website are showing regret status," said Vikas, an engineer who works in Noida. Chandra Prakash Singh, another native of Varanasi working in Delhi, is finding it hard to book a ticket to Varanasi.

"My ticket which was booked in Shiv Ganga about a month ago has a waiting list of 430, for several days. As the rush is heavy, there are fewer chances of its confirmation and I have decided to embark on a 'break journey'. I will take a second class ticket upto Lucknow and take another train to reach Varanasi. This is the only solution for me," he informed.

Several students studying in different colleges in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) are facing the same problem. "Booking a tatkal ticket is out of question. So I will take a general ticket and get accommodated with my friends who have confirmed tickets. This is the only way to reach home on the festival," said Sumit Singh, studying in Ghaziabad. Many people are also trying to get the reservation done upto Azamgarh, Allahabad, Sultanpur and other nearby cities.

Cantonment railway station manager AK Pandey said rush is heavy in all the Delhi bound trains. The seat availability is regretted on November 1 and November 2 and November 5 and November 6 for Diwali and Chhath.

During this period, waiting list of approximately 400 to 450 is seen in all Delhi and Mumbai bound trains. Licchavi Express is showing waiting list of around 459 in sleeper and 140 in AC three tier. Mumbai-bound Mahanagri Express, Lokmanya Tilak Terminal Express and Kamayani Express have a waiting list of over 560, 430 and 340 respectively.

The worst hit are the Delhi-bound trains as no seats are available in Shiv Ganga Express, Lichhivi Express, Poorva Express, Swatantrata Senani Express and Sadbhawana Express.

The situation is little better during Durga Puja and Dussehra holidays as the waiting list is around 50 to 60.

Pandey said that six festival special trains connecting major north Indian cities to Varanasi are running from October 2. Four trains would originate from Varanasi. These is one Delhi-Varanasi special, two trains on Varanasi-Chandigarh route and one weekly train on Varanasi-Guwahati route. The train on Varanasi-Guwahati route will be running every Sunday.

Besides, two more festival special trains would be connecting Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station. These would operate on Howarh-Jammu Tavi route and Patna-Delhi route. There are no special trains on Mumbai-Varanasi route.

There is a Puja special weekly train (train number 15101/15102) between Chhapra and Anand Vihar from October 6 to November 18. The train would run s