Babughat stays chaotic as rush for buses continues

KOLKATA: The departure of Coromandel Express from Shalimar station on Wednesday was the first sign of normalcy returning to train travel from Kolkata to south India via Odisha. But the scene at Babughat in the evening continued to be chaotic with buses queuing up along Strand Road to pick up passengers desperate for Odisha-bound transport.
With only a handful of trains resuming services, demand for travel continued to outstrip the number of bus seats by a wide margin. Passengers seemed willing to shell out the hiked fares, but given the fight for seats, some bus operators said they were giving priority to those with emergency travel requirements, such as passengers seeking to return home or those with treatment schedule.
Though the rush of passengers at Babughat was marginally less than that on Saturday and Sunday, commuters with tickets queued up since early evening for buses that would leave after 7pm. The line of buses stretched from Prinsep Ghat to Babughat.
Puja Verma (32), a homemaker travelling from Haridwar to Puri via train had to halt at Kolkata after her Puri Express ticket was cancelled. "My train fare was Rs 600. I had to pay Rs 1,000 for a bus ticket, but I am yet to get the bus number. I am worried as I have kids travelling with me," said Verma. Samli Barik (18), a student travelling to Bhubaneshwar, had to pay Rs 700 for a seat on a non-AC bus when her Janshatabdi Express ticket was cancelled. "The bus fare is usually Rs 400," she said. Simple Maurya (28), a software engineer travelling to Bhubaneshwar from Kolkata, along with her husband and child, was booked on Neelachal Express, which was cancelled. "We had to book a bus and pay Rs 1,200 a person. The usual fare is around Rs 650," she said. Bavas Fasmin (29), a businessman travelling to Cuttack, had to shell out Rs 1,600 for an AC bus seat, which usually went for Rs 600-Rs 700.
Bus driver Somnath Banerjee said the situation had improved somewhat since Tuesday but unless train services normalised, the rush for buses would persist. "A train ferries over 1,300 passengers and a bus only 64. It would require over 20 buses to accommodate a train's passengers. The fares are getting higher as the demand is skewed," he said.
Hiked fares aren't the only concern. For some, travel is necessary but no certainty about seats. Anjali Ganaraju (18), a student travelling back to Andhra Pradesh with her mother and sister after her summer holiday, has booked tickets to Bhubaneswar. But they are uncertain how they will make the rest of the journey. "The situation is stressful," she said.