City cut off, no mad rush for train tickets

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City cut off, no mad rush for train tickets

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:11.06.2020

There was no mad rush to book tickets when reservations opened on Wednesday for the additional trains on Chengalpet-Trichy-Chengalpet and Arakonam-Coimbatore-Arakonam routes scheduled to run from Friday.

Railway officials say the sluggish demand for seats is because the trains do not touch Chennai, because it is a red zone and the state government has requested railways to operate services within the state without touching the state capital.

Tickets are sold out in minutes for trains during summer but around 1,000 second sitting seats are available on Chengalpet-Trichy train and 146 sleeper class seats on Chengalpet-Trichy train via Mayiladuthurai for travel on Friday. However, there was demand for second seating on the train via Mayiladuthurai as booking status touched waitlist 2 by Wednesday evening. Officials say this could be because several people from southern suburbs of Chennai may be travelling to Kumbakonam or Mayiladuthurai. There are several seats vacant for trains scheduled to depart on Saturday and Sunday. There are hardly any takers for the Arakonam-Coimbatore intercity train as 1,545 second sitting seats and 90 AC chair car seats are available for travel on Friday. The train has around 1,700 second sitting seats.

A railway official said, “Reservations is likely to pick up in the coming days. The services were started after a request from the state government because there was a feedback that there will be demand on these routes. The government wants to start trains within the state in a phased manner. A request was sent to the railway board and the routes were approved.” Several people who live in southern suburbs of Tambaram and Chengalpet often travel to Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai and Trichy.

Though the idea behind starting the service from Chengalpet is to discourage residents of Chennai from travelling, people can still board the trains as cabs are available. “These trains will be useful for people as more lockdown relaxations are expected,” he added.

Southern Railway, following the state government’s request, is already operating some special trains connecting cities like Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy. The Chennai to Delhi Rajdhani specials from Chennai is the only popular train.