Rush of passengers at Tatanagar railway station ticket reservation counter. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, April 27: All those planning to travel places this summer better go book your tickets now. For, the rush for reservations has begun.

But, the good news is that South Eastern Railway has decided to attach extra coaches to several long distance trains passing through Tatanagar to accommodate passengers.

Railway sources at Garden Reach (headquarters of South Eastern Railway) said additional coaches would be attached to several long distance trains between Howrah and Mumbai and Howrah and New Delhi in view of the holiday season.

The trains, which will get the facility of additional sleeper coaches, include Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Express, Sambalpur-How- rah Ispat Express, Puri-New Delhi Puroshottam Express and Howrah-Ahmedabad Express.

An additional AC coach has already been added to Tata-Howrah Steel Express. Sources said for the convenience of passengers, special weekly summer trains for New Delhi and Mumbai wo- uld also be introduced from May.

With the forthcoming summer vacation in schools and the wedding season, the rush is expected to incr- ase manifold from the first week of May. The rush for booking reservations in tra- ins heading for Mumbai and New Delhi has already gained pace.

Officials at the Tatanagar computerised railway booking counter revealed that waiting lists in several trains like Geetanjali Express, Purushottam Express and Howrah-Ahmedabad Express has reached the 200-mark for those planning to travel in the first and second weeks of May.

“Extra coaches have been attached to some long distance trains from mid-April to clear the rush of passengers. But this year, South Eastern Railway has introduced additional coaches slightly ahead of schedule consider- ing the increase in passen- ger movement,” said an official at Chakradharpur railway reservation control room.

Tatanagar station manager L.B. Ram said though the summer vacation in schools was yet to start, there has been a rise in passenger traffic due to the marriage season. He also did not rule out the possibility of “No room status” in some of the trains for Mumbai and Delhi in the days to come.

Majority of the berths in the division are being bo- oked from Tatanagar, Rourkela, Kharagpur and Jharsuguda railway statio- ns under South Eastern Railway section.