Chennai: For thousands of people who have made Chennai their workplace and home, travelling to their native districts for Pongal in Jan 2027 has hit a roadblock. Passengers said tickets for several popular southbound trains sold out within minutes of reservations opening on Saturday.With Bhogi on Jan 14 and Pongal the next day, passengers rushed to book tickets from Chennai on the IRCTC website, at passenger reservation counters and through third-party applications. The portal for bookings opened on Saturday for Jan 14 and on Sunday for Jan 15. Demand, however, outstripped availability, leaving many without confirmed tickets despite trying multiple platforms.Popular services departing from Chennai Egmore and Tambaram, including Pandian, Nellai, Pothigai, Pearl City, Tejas Superfast Express, Amrit Bharat Express, Pallavan and Vaigai Express, saw heavy demand. Sleeper berths on several south-bound trains and reserved seats on services such as Vande Bharat and Vaigai sold out within minutes. The IRCTC portal displayed ‘regret’ for several trains, indicating that the waiting list had reached its permissible limit.For many passengers, the booking process itself was another ordeal. M Saravanavel, a native of Madurai who works for a private IT firm on OMR, said, “This is not the first time. During Diwali and Pongal last year too, the IRCTC app and website got stuck and logged me out at the final stage of payment. I ultimately lost the ticket. Railways knows that thousands of passengers access the website and payment gateway simultaneously during festive bookings, but the system should be equipped to handle the rush. Meanwhile, bus fares shoot up several times during these periods, leaving passengers with few alternatives.”G Menaka, a native of Trichy, urged Southern Railway to operate special trains and attach additional coaches to existing services during the festive season. “Thousands of people travel to their hometowns during Pongal. Special trains and additional coaches will ease the pressure on regular services, help more passengers secure tickets and reduce overcrowding at railway stations,” she said.A senior railway official said, his office has received complaints from commuters. “We will escalate the issue and study the feasibility of operating special trains during Pongal.”
