The South Central Railway (SCR) handled a record number of 5,58,548 passengers during the season, including 4,32,987 unreserved and 1,25,561 passengers in the reserved category, as they travelled to different destinations from the four main railway stations of the twin cities between April 8 and 10.
As many as 1.24 lakh passengers — 96,000 unreserved and 28,000 passengers in reserved category — travelled on April 10 (Wednesday) from Secunderabad station alone, said to be the second highest ever in its history. Special trains with adding extra coaches and careful planning helped in handling the huge additional rush of passengers owing to summer season as well as general elections. Hundreds hopped on to trains from stations of Hyderabad, Kacheguda and Lingampalli too, the senior officials said. The Secunderabad station itself handled a total of 3,38,558 passengers — 2,41,046 unreserved and 97,512 reserved — to various destinations on the three days preceding the polling day on Thursday. The Hyderabad station handled 70,231 passengers, including 17,446 in the reserved category.
Another 79,596 unreserved passengers and 5,786 reserved passengers totalling to 85,382 travelled from Lingampalli railway station and from Kacheguda station. There were 59,560 unreserved passengers and 4,817 reserved passengers totalling to 64,377 during these days, according to Chief Public Relations Officer Ch. Rakesh on Thursday.
General Manager Gajanan Mallya complimented the efforts of the officers and staff in ensuring smooth passage of all the trains and comfortable journey to the passengers. The SCR had run 23 special trains — six Janasadharan trains and 17 others — during these days along with 151 regular trains per day to various destinations.
Around 35 additional coaches were attached to the regular trains from the twin cities towards Vijayawada, Kakinada, Narsapur, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam Road, Tirupati and others. Expecting a return rush towards the capital, seven Jansadharan special trains and 10 special fare trains are going to be run between April 11 and 14 from Kakinada, Narsapur, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Machilipatnam.
The official spokesperson informed that senior officials belonging to different wings camped at the stations to manage the rush, look into facilities, and provide proper communication and security. Seven additional ticket counters were opened for round-the-clock service, he added.