BENGALURU: It’s farewell for now for three friends who came to Bengaluru, seeking job opportunities. Sruthi Lenkala (24), a techie, came from Nalgonda in Telangana, but little did she know that the lockdown would cost her her job. She and two of her now former colleagues, Sowmya Sadu and Choudary Prithvi Raj, had been stuck in Bengaluru since the lockdown, and are now heading to Secunderabad via the New Delhi Superfast Express.
“I had booked tickets after the first lockdown phase, but everything got cancelled and lockdown 2.0 started. When we heard of the passenger train, we had been trying to book tickets from 4pm on Monday. Now we are happy to go home,” says Prithvi, who is returning to Sanga Reddy, while Sowmya is heading to Khammam.
“I don’t know if I will ever come back since I have lost my job. I have to wait and see but it’s a relief to go home,” says Sruthi, adding that the ticket cost her Rs 1,260. This is the first passenger train to start operation from Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) railway station to New Delhi. Train number 02691 departed at 8.30 pm, with 1,076 passengers who booked their tickets online.
“The ticket fares are the same as for any Rajdhani Express. The only difference is that there is no pantry car. The passengers are served packed food, so catering charges were deducted from the ticket fare,” said a railway official. A cop on duty said, “Our job was to ensure social distancing and that all passengers wear masks and also that crowds are not allowed inside the station.”