Bus tickets at a premium due to holiday rush

HYDERABAD: Ch Shashank, an IT professional had a tough time getting a bus ticket to reach his destination. After waiting for a couple of hours at the Sanjeevareddy Nagar bus stop, he got a ticket by paying extra to a private travel agent. Like him, many other passengers keen to get home for the extended holidays, queued up at the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station and Jubilee Bus Station for getting tickets.As railway stations choked and all other modes of transport running packed, many passengers were seen struggling to get tickets at the booking counters at MGBS and JBS. Carrying their luggage, senior citizens especially women, faced a hard time. “It was really tough to get a ticket due to the heavy rush. When I failed to get reservation in an RTC bus, I had to go to private travel agent. They charged `400 for a ticket when the normal price is `200 from Hyderabad to Vijayawada,” said Ch Shashank. In other bus stations, passengers complained the APSRTC was fleecing people in the name of special services. Anxious passengers made fervent pleas to officials to arrange tickets but to no avail.