BHUBANESWAR: With the West Asia conflict triggering rise in domestic airfares and flight cuts, more travellers seem to be turning to trains, with data indicating over 10 per cent increase in ticket bookings in the East Coast region within a month.
As per statistics available with the East Coast Railway (ECoR), the total number of passengers who booked train tickets has increased from 7.53 million in February to 8.35 million in March this year, registering a growth of about 10.88 pc over the previous month.
ECoR officials said maximum bookings are being made for long distance travel with the highest increase in booking being recorded for destination routes like New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Surat, Ahmedabad, Secunderabad and Tirupati, among others. The waiting list positions are also witnessing a surge on these routes and destinations.
With summer vacation of students about to start, ECoR sources said the ticket booking graph may register a further spike in the coming days.
ECoR CPRO Deepak Rout said the passenger transport authorities are closely monitoring the ticket sales trend and introducing additional coaches and special trains based on demand. “This is a continuous and dynamic process aimed at enhancing passenger convenience,” he said.
Due to the surge in ticket booking in the last one month, the ECoR authorities said, extra coaches have been augmented on different routes to increase the seats. “Around 250 extra coaches including 100 reserved have been added, while the seats/berths increased by 24,160 in March. A number of trains on demand (ToD) and special trains have also been regularised to cater to the needs of the passengers,” officials familiar with the developments said.
As it is, rising Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) costs due to the prevailing West Asia conflict have driven ticket prices of domestic flights higher in different parts of the country. The operational constraints are also pushing airlines to curtail service on some of the domestic routes, including Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar where direct flights to cities like Indore, Dehradun and Kochi have been suspended.