Title - Trains to Seemandhra brim over as stir halts buses

It’s a daily fight for elbow space these days at the railway station in the city. Every train departing from, arriving in and touching the station is bursting at its seams with people headed for various destinations.The agitation in the Seemandhra region against carving out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh has brought operations of KSRTC and APSRTC buses from here to a screeching halt. No bus is being operated from the city to nine districts in coastal Andhra Pradesh and four in the Rayalaseema region.The operation of a total of 33 NEKRTC buses has been suspended from the Bellary region to Mantralayam, Srisailam, Kadapa, Gutti, Vijayawada, Guntakal, Kurnool, Anantapur, Tirupati and Rayadurga. The bus travelling to Chennai via Anantapur has been called off.   The  Corporation is suffering a daily loss of Rs three crore, Durgappa, the divisional controller, told Deccan Herald.The worst hit are thousands of workers from Hospet, Siruguppa and Bellary who travel to Andhra Pradesh every day.The result: Trains are the only mode of transport out of the region for the common man. Passengers virtually barge into both passenger and express trains that arrive on the platforms of the Bellary station. The rush has spilled over to the Hospet and Toranagallu stations also.

Sought-after trains

The much sought-after trains include the Hubli-Vijayawada Express that leaves Bellary at 4 am, the Hubli-Tirupati fast passenger that leaves the station at 11 am, the Amaravathi Express that departs at 4.30 pm, the Kolhapur-Hyderabad Shahu Maharaj Express that leaves at 8.15 pm, the Hampi Express that chugs out at 10.45 pm, the Kolhapur-Tirupati Haripriya Express that departs at 11.30 pm.

Also jam-packed is the passenger train that leaves Bellary for Guntakal. Those headed for Rayadurga depend on the passenger train that runs between Hospet and Bangalore.

The period between 11 am and 4.30 pm is the most difficult every day for those bound for various places in the neighbouring state. The passengers have appealed to the Railways that they run special trains in these hours, for, in the absence of buses the rail route is their only hope.

Another problem is that barring a few passenger trains, there are only express trains that ply to Andhra Pradesh. This makes it very difficult for people in the region’s rural hinterland to travel to the neighbouring state. The express trains halt only in major stations.

High ticket sales

Amidst all this are the Railway authorities who aren’t complaining. The unprecedented crowd is filling the coffers of the Railways, thanks to the manifold increase in ticket sales.

There is some saving grace vis-a-vis the buses, though. Four services ply to Hyderabad via Raichur at night. Some night buses also go to Mantralayam from Hubli, Mangalore and Karwar.