All east-bound trains packed to capacity

LUDHIANA: Ahead of the summer vacations, all long-route trains, especially those running towards Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Kolkata are packed with passengers. Railway counter officials claimed that trains having the maximum waiting list numbers were Amarapali Express running between Amritsar and Katihar (WL-340), Shaheed Express from Amritsar to Jaynagar (WL-277), Paschim Express from Amritsar to Bandra Terminus (WL-240), Sarvodaya Express (WL-260), Jalandhar City to Katihar (WL-370), Garib Rath from Amritsar to Saharsa (WL-316), Amritsar-Howrah Express (WL-256), Gangasatluj Express from Ferozepur to Dhanbad (WL-315).
In-charge of reservation counter VL Meena stated: “With the arrival of summer vacations, daily footfalls have increased at reservation counters in the city railway station from 700 to 1,500 per day. This is the time most people are taking the help of agents moving in and around the station premises. Apart from this, some long- route trains on which local people prefer to travel are running overcrowded these days, due to the ongoing summer vacations. This problem of heavy rush will continue until the middle of July.”

He added: “Now, our department has deputed some police officials in civil uniform to catch the agents, as fraud cases had increased in the past year. The waiting lists of trains going to Bihar have crossed every limit. It’s difficult to imagine how people are travelling in such difficult conditions. Following the direction of high court, all five reservation counters have been opened at Ludhiana railway station to counter the problem of holiday rush seen in summer. Information regarding special trains is published on the notice board at the reservation counters to make passengers aware about them.”