Ganpati special trains tickets sold out in mins after booking opened

MUMBAI: Within minutes of the railways announcing bookings for the Ganpati special trains, the waiting lists touched anywhere between 700-800. This was the case for all the 258 special trains announced by Central and Western railways.
Bookings for the Ganpati special trains, that CR announced in the third week of July, started over this weekend. CR is running 202 Ganpati special trains. while WR authorities will run 56 for Konkan considering the heavy demand and rush for the areas like Sawantwadi, Kudal, Ratanagiri, and Kankavali.
“The tickets were sold out in less than five minutes. We will try to operate as many special trains as possible and add additional coaches to the existing trains until the last moment before the festival begins,” said an official from the Konkan Railway.
Such is the demand, said senior railway officials, that they are now forced to curtail booking for these trains. On the ticket booking apps and websites, the railways have put out – ‘Booking Not Allowed’. While the fares for regular Rajdhani type trains are anywhere between ₹1100 to ₹2000 depending on whether it’s 3AC, 2AC or 1AC, the tickets for regular trains like Tutari Express, Matsyagandha Express and Konkan Kanya Express range from ₹265 to ₹1,100 depending on the class of coaches.
“The premium tatkal in Rajdhani trains are being sold at ₹3,600 to ₹4,900 per ticket. Private buses are also running full, with each seat costing ₹2000-3000 depending on the demand. How will a common man travel?” asked Subhas Gupta, president of Rail Yatri Sangh.
Sources in CR said that looking at the demand, they are looking at the possibility of adding more special trains in the days to come. Senior officials said more than 50 special trains for Konkan can be added provided there is space to operate these.
Passengers are also complaining that the drive to remove waiting list passengers from long distance trains should be stopped. Passenger associations, too, said they are already getting complaints from passengers over the logic of disallowing those with wait list tickets from the train after they board along with families. CR authorities started this move from mid-June after valid ticket holders objected to such passengers occupying seats.