Ranchi, Oct. 14: With two days left for Diwali and a week to go for Chhath, railway rush is at its peak.

Most trains, that were going empty the last two days because of the Maoist bandh, were now packed to capacity. And tickets were becoming hard to get in trains, especially those headed for North Bihar destinations in view of the Chhath festival.

Today, the Hatia-Patna Express had a waiting list of 142 in sleeper class, 43 in AC-III and two in AC-II. Maurya Express (Hatia-Gorakhpur) was over-crowded too. Some trains coming from Delhi also had a long waiting list.

Delhi-Ranchi Jharkhand Swarnajayanti Express (2874) had a waiting list of 327 for sleeper class and 37 for AC-III today. For October 16, the train has a waiting list of 382 for sleeper class and 119 for AC-III. “Had the Hatia-Patna Intercity been flagged off by now, as proposed by railway minister Mamata Banerjee, the rush in Bihar-bound trains would have been lesser,” said Ashok Nagpal, the secretary of Chhotanagpur Passenger Association, Ranchi.

The railway authorities are thinking of introducing special trains and extra coaches in some trains. “We will give one extra sleeper coach in Hatia-Gorakhpur Maurya Express from today, which will continue till October 22,” said additional divisional railway manager M.K. Yadav. He said the railway division would also seek permission from higher authorities to attach extra coaches to Hatia-Patna Express (8624).

Earlier, the railways ran specials like Ranchi-Jaynagar train for passengers going to North Bihar during Chhath. But this year, a decision on it was still awaited.

Yadav said since the Ranchi-Jaynagar special was run by East Central Railways, he could only put in a request.

Earlier, the East Central Railways had run the train four times to study its economic viability as there was a demand for it.

“A new regular train on this sector does not attract enough passengers,” said an official requesting anonymity, indicating there was little chance of the Jaynagar special becoming a regular.