Passengers wait to board the special train, Hatia-Yesvantpur, at Hatia station in Ranchi on Thursday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, May 5: The railways is bearing the twin brunt of the approaching summer vacations and Air India pilots’ strike with most trains from Ranchi, especially the ones to Delhi, running packed.

While Rajdhani Express’s (12439) waiting list in AC-III has touched 138 on May 8, the Ranchi-Delhi Rajdhani (12453) has 131 names on the waiting list in AC III on May 7. Its waiting lists for May 14 read 133 in AC-III and 47 in AC-II.

Even the Garib Rath — which runs on Mondays and Fridays — is witnessing a huge rush. For its scheduled run tomorrow, the waiting list is teeming with 312 passengers. Lesser luxury trains like Jharkhand Sampark Kranti Express has relatively lesser queue of passengers.

Patna-bound trains are no less crowded. While Hatia-Patna (18624) has 50 passengers on the waiting list on May 6, Hatia-Pataliputra’s waiting list has 22 passengers for tomorrow’s journey.

Sunil Kumar, additional divisional manager, Ranchi railway division attributed the rush to the summer vacations when a large number of people go on trips.

“Usually, trains start going packed from mid-May. However, this year, the rush is being witnessed early. We have appraised our headquarters at the South Eastern Railway about the long waiting lists of passengers. A final decision on whether extra coaches will be added to the existing trains or special trains will be announced can only be taken by the headquarters,” he added.

The ongoing strike of Air India pilots has only added to the woes. With Delhi-Ranchi IC 809 and Ranch-Delhi IC 810 remaining grounded since April 28, many passengers are opting to take trains to the national capital even though several are opting for other flights.

“We have no idea as to when the strike will be called off and Air India will resume its Delhi-Ranchi-Delhi flights. Passengers, who usually travel on this flight, are now choosing to take trains to go to Delhi,” said Pramod Bhuiyan, manager (commercial), Air India, Ranchi.

Apart from Air India, other airlines providing flights to the national capital from Ranchi are Kingfisher and Jet Airways Konnect.

The Ranchi railway division, meanwhile, has started plying a special train, Hatia-Yesvantpur, which left the state capital this evening. A large number of students, going to Bangalore to appear for the engineering entrance examination, took the train. It will leave Yesvantpur in Bangalore on May 9.