RailEnquiry

The puja rush was palpable at Bhubaneswar railway station on Sunday with at least 6,000 people having to return from the station between 5.30 am and 11.30 am without being able to board their trains, said sources.

Several trains were choc-a-block with puja passengers, while many missed their trains even as sources in East Coast Railway (ECoR) said trains have been increased with at least 2,676 additional coaches to meet the rush.

Even many who had their berths reserved couldn't make it to their coaches. Naresh Patnaik, a passenger, who was to go to Sambalpur in the Intercity Express, missed the train as he could not make it to platform no. 2 on time due to the rush. "General compartments were packed like sardines," he said.

There were only a few railway cops to maintain order. Anil Subuddhi, who was trying to get into the general compartment in Nilachal Express, lost his bag in the melee. "I had a wait-listed ticket. When I checked with the TTE for a berth, the general compartment was overflowing. I was trying to get into a coach in a hurry and lost my bag. I missed the train too," narrated Subuddhi, who was planning to be home during the puja vacation.

ECoR chief public relations officer R N Mohapatra attributed the rush to unplanned journey by passengers. He said around 30 special trains are being run by South-Eastern Railway, Eastern Railway and ECoR to meet the rush. At least 75,000 additional berths have been created. ECoR is running special trains to New Delhi, Kolkata, Quilon, Nanded, Chennai, Sai Nagar Shirdi, Asansol and Hyderabad, he added.