Ganesh Chaturthi rush: Private bus operators increase fares

NT Correspondent

 Bengaluru

With Ganesh Chaturthi around the corner, the bus tickets of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have already been sold out, and private bus operators are making a killing by doubling the prices. Fares for certain destinations have been hiked up to Rs 2,500- 3,000, which is double the normal charge.

 The fares for services to Mangaluru and Hubbali have witnessed the sharpest increase. For Mangaluru, private bus operators are charging Rs 2,000 for an AC bus, while for Hubbali it is Rs 3,000.

“During every festive season the price of tickets goes up. All the government buses are already booked, so I will have to take a private bus. The government should have added more buses during Ganesh Chaturthi,” said Haripriya Sureban, a traveller who is going to Hubbali during the holiday.

More than 50 per cent of the bookings are for interstate travel and the remaining are for intra-state travel. After the second wave more people have started travelling, and moreover this year there is no restriction on celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi in the state.

 Prakash Sangam of RedBus, said this time the surge in demand started seven days before Ganesh Chaturthi compared to last year. “People started booking tickets in advance, and we expected a lot of bookings this year. Now after the pandemic people are willing to travel during holidays. There has been an obvious hike in ticket prices, but that happens every year during the holiday or festival season,” he said.

 KSRTC specials

In view of the festival on August 30 and 31, KSRTC has made elaborate arrangements for operating 500 etra buses in addition to the existing schedules to provide transport facility to the travelling public on August 29 and 30. Later, special buses will be operated from various places from within the state and outside the state to Bengaluru on August 31.

 Two special trains

 Two more special trains have been added to Yesvantpur station’s roster due to the ongoing festive season, which will culminate in Ganesh Chaturthi on Wednesday.

Railways said that both trains will be headed to Hyderabad, while also stopping in stations at Ballari district. Both trains will run for a single trip in each direction.

South Central Railway (SCR) will run a special express train between Narasapur (Ballari district) – Yesvantpur and Kacheguda (Hyderabad) – Yesvantpur for one trip in each direction in order to clear the extra rush, SCR said.

 The train will depart Narasapur on Sunday at 2:00 pm and arrive in Yesvantpur at 9:45 am on Monday. In the return direction, the train will depart from Yesvantpur on Monday at 2:20 pm and arrive in Narasapur at 9:00 am on Tuesday.

The second special train will ply from Kacheguda to Yeshvantpur and will depart from Hyderabad on Tuesday at 8:25 pm and arrive in Yesvantpur at 10:30 am on Wednesday.

In the return direction, the train will depart from Yesvantpur on Thursday at 05:20 pm and arrive in Hyderabad at 7:00 am on Friday.