Railways rescue Air India passengers

Mumbai: Passengers of the national carrier Air India continued to suffer on the second day of the pilot strike as more pilots struck work on Thursday, and cancellations rose to 60.
To add to their woes, other airlines jacked up air fares further, and while some chose to shell out the extra amount, others had no other option but to lug it outto their destination by road. Travel agents said that Air India has stopped taking fresh bookings for domestic flights till May 3.
To help salvage the situation, the railways have decided to operate special trains. The Central Railways will operate a special train between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Hyderabad on Friday to help clear the extra traffic due to the ongoing vacations. The train halts are Wadi and Begumpet stations.
Western Railways too will run a Rajdhani type super-fast special train that will leave Mumbai Central at 7.45pm on Saturday and to reach New Delhi the next day. This train will halt at Borivli, Surat, Vadodara, Ratlam, Kota and Mathura Junction.
But these measures are unlikely to alleviate the suffering of commuters who have already booked AI tickets. Vinod Saple, 59, a professor and head of a business school in Mumbai had booked a Mumbai-Delhi flight on Thursday at 9am.
29/04/11 Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Air India Apr 2011