Mangaluru: For students and IT professionals travelling from Bengaluru to coastal Karnataka for Dasara, the annual homecoming is turning expensive, with private bus fares crossing Rs 1,500 on some dates as seats fill up.Yatish Konchady, who usually takes the Yeshwantpur day train home, said he was unaware of its cancellation and had to look for a bus instead. “I used to pay around Rs 160 by train; now I have to pay around Rs 1,670 by bus,” he said. Arun Crasta said he booked late and found fares at Rs 1,500, which rose to around Rs 1,700 as seats filled up. Regular traveller Jyotsna said full trains left passengers with little choice but to take available buses, some of which she said were in poor condition.A private bus operator said contract-carriage fares varied with demand, without uniform fare limits like those for stage-carriage buses. While most operators avoided steep hikes to retain regular customers, some charged substantially more during peak periods. Another operator said non-AC sleeper fares averaged Rs 900, rising to Rs 1,300-1,500 on weekends and during peak demand, with some operators charging Rs 1,800-2,000.Sadanand Chatra, founder-member of the Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India, said temporary permit relaxations during festivals could help deploy more buses.Ayush Jain of Sugama Travels and the Karnataka Bus Owners Association said fares varied with occupancy, with increases largely during weekends and peak periods.Operators running buses only during high-demand periods could charge significantly more, while regulating fares across the industry remained difficult.Jain called for a mechanism to curb exorbitant fares as well as unsustainably low base fares. He also warned that online bus listings could mislead passengers about the vehicles being offered.The rush is normal on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route during Dasara, when students, IT professionals and families travel to their hometowns in coastal Karnataka. This year, train cancellations have added to the pressure.South Western Railway (SWR) announced cancellations of several day services on the Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction from Oct 4 to Nov 4, with services operating from Oct 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 and questioned why Hassan received special services while Mangaluru did not, despite being the district headquarters and having a sizeable IT workforce.KSRTC will operate more than 45 additional buses on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route on Oct 16 and 17, with return services on Oct 21 and 22, an official said.BoxBengaluru–Mangaluru bus fares on Oct 16AC sleeper: Rs 1,750–5,000AC seater/sleeper: Rs 2,496–2,899AC semi-sleeper: Rs 1,399–1,650Non-AC sleeper: Rs 1,250–2,000Non-AC seater/sleeper: Rs 1,250–1,555Non-AC seater: Around Rs 1,100( Source: Online booking platforms)
