Title - Train tickets for Onam sold out 3 months in advance

CHENNAI: Onam festival may be three months away but travellers seem to have firmed up their travel plans already. Popular trains to Kerala have already been filled for travel for the last week of August.Though Onam falls on August 28 and 29, a Tuesday and Wednesday, travellers have started to book tickets for August 24, which is a Friday, to enjoy an extended weekend.Reservation on popular trains like Thiruvananthapuram Mail, Alleppey Express, Thiruvananthapuram Express and Mangalore Mail is already on waitlist for sleeper and AC three tier classes. A few seats are left for journey on August 27."The reservation trend shows that people prefer to travel on Friday to make use of an extended weekend. Some seats are still available because many people do not know that tickets can now be booked four months before the date of travel. A majority of tickets were booked when reservations opened last month," said a railway official.Most passengers headed to Kerala, travel to Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Calicut. But passengers often complain that adequate services are not available to northern Kerala. Passengers headed to Calicut, Kannur and other towns in north Kerala have a limited choice of trains from Chennai when compared to those travelling to southern Kerala.On Mangalore Mail, which is the most popular train from Chennai to northern Kerala, reservations have touched waitlist 88 in sleeper class and waitlist 24 in AC three tier.

"We will have to depend on special trains. It is very difficult to get confirmed seats/ berths to Calicut or Kannur. The berths are sold out probably because travel agents may block it. Last year, railways operated special trains to Calicut and Kannur," said P Parameswaran, a frequent traveller.

In Thiruvananthapuram Mail, sleeper class waitlist is 149 to Thiruvananthapuram, 117 to Ernakulam and 140 to Kottayam while AC three tier is waitlist 32.

After assessing the reservation trend, Southern railway officials will operate special trains. "Special trains are announced closer to the festival time. Railways face pressure to operate additional trains during festival season such as Onam and Deepavali," said a railway official.