Puja rush: Train tickets for Oct 1, 2 all sold-out by ER

KOLKATA: After two months of lull due to pandemic, Durga Puja travelers rush is back as tickets for October 1 and 2 get sold out by Eastern Railway.

Four months ahead of Durga Puja, rail is experiencing an increase in demand for tickets to North Bengal and North India. According to Chief Public Relations Officer Ekalabya Chakraborty, tickets of all 12 trains to North Bengal have been sold out and the waiting list has peaked to 400 for sleeper class, 300 for AC-three tier, 100 for AC-two tier and more than 30 for first class.

"Railway tickets are getting booked as soon as the reservation is opening," Chakraborty said.

After the pandemic, bookings have increased this year. The travel booking for Puja has kick started from May end for travel agents.

General Secretary of the Eastern Himalayas Travel and Tour Operators Association Sandipan Ghosh said, "The response this time is very good. The booking for Puja's has started. Already 40-45 percent booking is done."

Travel agent Nilanjan Basu has been getting calls for booking from at least 10 families per day. "We are getting lots of bookings for Sikkim, Darjeeling, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir," Basu said.

Even though the number of travel plans has not matched pre-pandemic rush, Basu added that they have been able to get back 90 per cent of their business flow.