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RANCHI: Indian Railways has extended services of special trains in the state keeping in mind the rush during festivals and the wedding season.

Trains running to cities, like Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi, are booked to capacity and it has become impossible to get reservations for the next one month. The rush is so huge that the railways has extended the service of a special train from Ranchi to Bangalore by a month.


Ranchi division of the South Eastern Railway has extended services of puja special Hatia-Yeswantpur Express, which was scheduled to be off tracks after November 29, for a month till December 29. The train was started to tackle the additional load during festivals.

Ashok Nagpal, vice president of Chhotanagpur Passengers' Association, said now that the festivals are over, youngsters studying outside are returning and so the rush. "Over 2 lakh students from Jharkhand live in various southern cities for studies. They are bound to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai after Chhath and Gurupurnima," said Nagpal.

Similar is the case with New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express, Jharkhand Sampark Kranti Express, Mumbai LTT Express, Rourkela-Muri Jammu Express and other premium trains. "I had booked a ticket in Rourkela Muri Jammu Express that had a waiting list of 145. I waited for confirmation. But on the day of the journey, the waiting list was 65 and I had to cancel my ticket," said Uday Sahay, a management trainee who had to cancel his visit to Kanpur.

DRM G Malaya said running of few special trains from Ranchi to various destinations helped cater to a large number of passengers. "The rush is likely to be over in a few weeks from now," said Malaya. A senior railway official said the rush was because of the beginning of the marriage season and winter vacations in colleges.