Hyderabad: Sankranthi travel plans to Andhra Pradesh are already hitting a roadblock, with popular trains running out of tickets within minutes of bookings opening. Several services have begun flashing ‘REGRET’, leaving passengers scrambling for alternatives two months ahead of the festival.With Indian Railways allowing reservations 60 days in advance, demand for travel on Jan 9, 10, 11 and 12 has exposed the massive festive rush to AP.The contrast with other destinations is striking. While AP-bound trains are sold out, passengers travelling to Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru can still find seats across Sleeper and AC classes.The rush is particularly heavy on Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam services. Popular trains, including the Godavari Superfast Express, Garib Rath, LTT Visakhapatnam Express and Visakha Express, are showing ‘REGRET’ in Sleeper class. Some are also witnessing heavy demand in AC II and III tiers for Jan 8, 9 and 10, covering the weekend ahead of Sankranthi.Services connecting Hyderabad with the Godavari districts are equally crowded. The Gowthami, Cocanada and Narasapur Express trains are fully booked or have long waiting lists. Even Vande Bharat chair car tickets have been snapped up well in advance.South Central Railway (SCR) operates at least 100 trains connecting Telangana with various destinations in AP. Yet, passengers are struggling to secure confirmed tickets nearly two months before the festival.“To manage the festive rush, we will operate hundreds of special trains during Sankranthi. Existing services may also be augmented with extra coaches. However, ‘REGRET’ means the waiting list has crossed the permissible booking limit and fresh bookings are no longer accepted,” an SCR official said.Passengers fear private bus fares will soar as the festival approaches. “I logged into IRCTC as soon as bookings opened for Visakhapatnam on Jan 9 or 10, but trains already had long waiting lists or showed ‘REGRET’. Railways should announce special trains early,” said S Niharika, an IT professional.
