Mangaluru, Oct 15: Buses are charging passengers fares comparable to flight tickets on some services as the Dasara rush and train cancellations drive up the cost of travelling from Bengaluru to coastal Karnataka, with fares on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route touching Rs 5,000 for AC sleeper services.

For students and IT professionals heading home for the festival, the journey has become a costly affair, particularly for those unable to secure train tickets or book bus seats early.

Yatish Konchady, who usually travels home by the Yeshwantpur day train, said he was unaware of its cancellation and had to opt for a bus. His travel cost rose from around Rs 160 by train to Rs 1,670 by bus.

Another passenger, Arun Crasta, said he initially found bus tickets for Rs 1,500, but fares climbed to around Rs 1,700 as seats filled up. Regular traveller Jyotsna said packed trains left passengers with little choice but to use available buses, some of which she found to be in poor condition.

Bus operators attributed the variations to demand and occupancy. Non-AC sleeper fares, typically around Rs 900, can rise to Rs 1,300-1,500 on weekends and during peak periods, with some operators charging Rs 1,800-2,000.

Ayush Jain of Sugama Travels and the Karnataka Bus Owners Association said fare increases were largely concentrated around weekends and periods of high demand. He called for a mechanism to curb exorbitant fares while also addressing unsustainably low base fares. He cautioned that online listings could sometimes mislead passengers about the vehicles being offered.

Sadanand Chatra, founder-member of the Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India, suggested temporarily relaxing permit restrictions during festivals to enable more buses to operate.

The rush has been compounded by South Western Railway’s cancellation of several daytime services between Yeshwantpur and Mangaluru Junction from October 4 to November 4, although services will operate from October 16 to 20 to facilitate festive travel.

G Hanumanth Kamath, president of the Pashchima Karavali Railway Yatri Abhivriddhi Samithi, criticised the lack of adequate special trains for Mangaluru, questioning why Hassan received special services despite the coastal district’s substantial IT workforce.

Meanwhile, KSRTC will operate more than 45 additional buses on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route on October 16 and 17, with return services on October 21 and 22.

Bengaluru-Mangaluru bus fares on October 16:

AC sleeper: Rs 1,750-5,000

AC seater/sleeper: Rs 2,496-2,899

AC semi-sleeper: Rs 1,399-1,650

Non-AC sleeper: Rs 1,250-2,000

Non-AC seater/sleeper: Rs 1,250-1,555

Non-AC seater: Around Rs 1,100