KOCHI: It’s almost a month for the Onam holidays, but the interstate luxury private buses have already jacked up ticket rates in the Bengaluru-Kochi sector, dealing a big blow to Malayalis in the IT hub who are planning to come home during the festive season. Flights appear to be a cheaper option as one can book in advance tickets starting from Rs 2,500, instead of travelling by road where you are forced to pay over Rs 3,000 for a bus ticket. Tickets for popular trains, especially night trains, are fully booked already.
For instance, the ticket prices of AC luxury buses departing from Bengaluru on September 12 (Thursday) evening so as to reach Kochi the following morning, range from Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,200. Ticket booking apps such as ‘Make My Trip’ reveal that the ticket prices further rise on September 13. Already a number of seats in the buses have been booked and private operators such as ‘Murahara Travels’ (only 19 seats left for online booking at the time of writing) charge Rs 3,515.
The ‘Yas Tours and Travels’ charges Rs 4,000 per head if the ticket is booked now. In comparison, the average flight charges in the sector are lower on the same dates. Carriers such as IndiGo are charging only Rs 2,515 for the nearly one-hour flight on September 12.
Even for the evening non-stop flights, tickets are available for Rs 3,090 (IndiGo: 7pm), Rs 3,195 (Alliance Air: 6.20pm) and Rs 3,298 (Air India Express: 4.45 pm), among others.
The flight charges, which stay in the same range till September 12, however, increase on the weekend days just before Thiruvonam, which falls on September 15. Tickets can be booked starting from Rs 3,615 (Alliance Air) on Friday, September 13. “The flight charges are lower in the sector when compared to the AC luxury buses during the Onam holidays if the tickets are booked now.
However, they may go up with each passing day,” said Biji Eapen, National President, IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI). Meanwhile, no tickets are available for the popular night trains in the Bengaluru-Kochi sector in the days leading up to Thiruvonam. “When I logged into the IRCTC website and tried to book AC tickets on the Bengaluru-Kanniyakumari Island Express departing on September 12 , the message appeared as ‘Regrets! No more booking available’.
The waiting list is as high as ‘235’ in the Sleeper category. Even the Sleeper tickets are not available on the following day (September 13),” said Sangeeth Santosh, a techie hailing from Pattom in Thiruvananthapuram, who works in Bengaluru. The train departs from KSR Bengaluru City Jn at 8.
10 pm to reach Ernakulam Town at 7.10 am the following day. Similarly, only waiting list tickets (WL 182) are available in the ‘Sleeper’ category of Ernakulam Super Fast Express (T No 12684; departing at 7 pm), Yesvantpur-Kochuveli AC SF Express (T No 22677; departing at 3.
20 pm) and Kochuveli Express (T No 16315). A few more seats are available in the day train Intercity SF Express (T No 12677; departing at 6.10 am).
Similarly, for the return journey, there is a heavy demand for tickets on September 16 (Monday). Flight charges start from Rs 5,500, while the bus fares range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000. Meanwhile, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has announces special services.
“The Bengaluru-Ernakulam Special services will start daily at 5.30 pm, 6.30 pm, 7.
30 pm, 7.45 pm and 8.30 pm.
Those from Ernakulam to Bengaluru will start at 5.30 pm, 6.30 pm, 7 pm, 7.
30 pm and 8.15 pm. Besides, a special service will be operated daily to and from Chennai during this period.
The Super Deluxe bus services will depart from Chennai and Ernakulam daily at 7.30 pm,” said a senior KSRTC official. KSRTC has announced a total of 60 additional services, mainly non-AC Super Deluxe buses, to Bengaluru, from September 9 to September 20.
However, flexi charges (as per demand) and End-to-End fare system will be applicable..
