Holi travel surge packs trains as bus services remain patchy

Jaipur: Passenger pressure mounted sharply, with an overwhelming rush witnessed on trains arriving in and departing from the city ahead of Holi festival next week. Chaotic scenes were reported at Jaipur Junction, especially on platforms 1 to 4 on Saturday.Passengers with luggage, children and family members found themselves caught in heavy congestion at major stations, including Gandhi Nagar railway station and Khatipura railway station.
TOI Friday visited the railway station and found areas from the entrance gates to the platforms packed with commuters. The rush was visible on both inbound trains to Jaipur and outbound trains from the city. While many residents are leaving Jaipur to celebrate Holi in their hometowns, a large number of people working or studying in other parts of the country are returning for the festival. Officials anticipate similar heavy footfall over the weekend.Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawans were deployed at platforms and entry gates to regulate crowds. Railway authorities admitted that the recent bus strike, which ended late Thursday night, also shifted additional passenger load onto trains.Commenting on the strike, a private bus operator based at Polo Victory said, "The strike ended late at night and we need time to rearrange our fleet, drivers and conductors. Services will fully resume from Saturday."However, many passengers expressed anger over the arrangements. "They claim they are running special trains and adding extra coaches, but there is no space. I tried booking tickets one week ago but none were available. Now I will try to adjust with my family in the general coach somehow," said Anant Singh, who is travelling to Bihar.Meanwhile, Amit Sudarshan, Chief Public Relations Officer of North Western Railway, said passenger load on various routes is being continuously monitored. "We are operating 35 special trains for destinations including Gorakhpur, Samastipur, Yog Nagari Rishikesh, Amritsar, Mysuru, Kakinada, Gomti Nagar, Bhavnagar Terminus, Howrah, Charlapalli, Tirupati, Mau and Sabarmati. We also extended the trips of 30 other holiday special trains for March," he said.Officials added that passenger movement is being monitored round the clock and additional arrangements will be made if required to manage the festive rush smoothly.