Hyderabad: South Central Railway (SCR) has announced 41 special trains between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the Sankranti festival, operating between January 8 and 20, in response to heavy demand and non-availability of tickets in regular services.
Reservations for these special trains will open from 8 am on Sunday, December 14, as stated by South Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer A Sridhar.
Key routes and dates
Most of the special services will run between Secunderabad, Vikarabad, Lingampalli and major Andhra Pradesh destinations such as Kakinada, Narsapur and Tirupati during the festive period from January 8 to 20.
The focus is on high-demand routes connecting the Telugu states to clear the Sankranti rush.
The announced schedule includes services like Kakinada–Vikarabad (07263) on January 8, Vikarabad–Kakinada (07264) on January 9, Kakinada–Secunderabad (07279) on January 10, and Secunderabad–Kakinada (07280) on January 11, along with several other trips on January 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19 and 20 on the Kakinada–Secunderabad, Kakinada–Vikarabad, Secunderabad–Kakinada and Kakinada–Lingampalli sectors.
These trains are planned to address the surge in passenger movement to and from coastal Andhra around the festival dates.
Additional Narsapur services
In addition to the Kakinada and Tirupati routes, several special trains will operate between Vikarabad, Secunderabad, Lingampalli and Narsapur to cater to the heavy rush towards the Godavari region.
These include Vikarabad–Narsapur (07244) on January 9 and 11, Narsapur–Vikarabad (07245) on January 10, Narsapur–Secunderabad (07246) on January 12, Secunderabad–Narsapur (07247) on January 9 and 13, and multiple Narsapur–Vikarabad and Vikarabad–Narsapur services between January 9 and 13.
Further, Narsapur–Lingampalli services (07257/07258/07259) will run from January 17 to 19, along with additional Vikarabad–Narsapur trips (including 07258) on January 18 and 20 to handle the return rush after the festival days.
South Central Railway has appealed to passengers to utilise advance booking facilities and indicated that more special services could be considered if demand continues to remain high.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by P N Sree Harsha | 
