TIRUVANNAMALAI: The Tiruvannamalai railway station witnessed huge rush from Wednesday evening, with hundreds of devotees hurrying to the station to return to their native places after witnessing the Maha Deepam at Arunachaleswarar temple.
According to local residents, passengers heading to certain destinations had to wait for up to four hours to board the trains. However, the crowd lessened by Thursday morning due to the operation of special trains.
Sources said passengers faced difficulty getting in and out of the trains. Many passengers were seen trying to get inside to catch a seat without giving space for others to get off the train. A passenger, who boarded the Tirupati Express from Villupuram to Tirupati via Tiruvannamalai said that the train was heavily crowded and that she struggled a lot to get onboard due to people pushing from behind and passengers struggling to get outside.
As per details shared by the district administration, 16 special trains were introduced this year by the Southern Railways, apart from the 16 regular trains, making a total of 32 trains operating towards Tiruvannamalai for Karthigai Deepam.
Meanwhile, from Thursday afternoon, large crowds continued to throng Tiruvannamalai for girivalam as it was Pournami day. Railway passengers face similar situations during every Pournami and Karthigai Deepam, local residents pointed out.
Divisional Railway Manager of Tiruchirapalli Balak Ram Negi, along with other railway officials inspected the station on Thursday evening and urged the team to facilitate hassle-free movement of passengers. Railway officials were unavailable for comments.