Lack of enough trains: Going home for Onam a costly affair for these Malayalis
Fully booked trains and soaring flight prices mean round trips cost up to ₹1.5 lakh, forcing many to cancel plans.
Fully booked trains and soaring flight prices mean round trips cost up to ₹1.5 lakh, forcing many to cancel plans.
Fully booked trains and soaring flight prices mean round trips cost up to ₹1.5 lakh, forcing many to cancel plans.
The festive joy of Onam might turn into a financial headache for Delhi's Malayali community this time. Travelling home to Kerala this year can be quite a logistical and expensive challenge, with families looking at costs anywhere from ₹50,000 to ₹1.5 lakh for a round trip.
The classic combination of fully booked train tickets and soaring airfares has left non-resident Keralites stranded. This annual nightmare is even worse for those living in other remote parts of North India, who must first travel to the national capital before embarking on their journey down south.
No special trains for the national capital
While Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that Indian Railways would run 100 special trains to Kerala to ease the holiday rush, Delhi has been completely ignored in the special schedule. While extra services were allocated to Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, the national capital received none. This omission can strand thousands of professionals, students, and families hoping to head home for the holidays.
Major daily trains, including the Kerala Express and the Mangala-Lakshadweep Express, are fully booked, with waitlists stretching indefinitely. Travelling in sleeper class is virtually impossible due to the intense North Indian heat, yet even the premium AC classes, such as Third AC and Second AC, are entirely sold out. Other key trains such as the Rajdhani Express, Millennium Superfast Express, Himsagar Express, and Sampark Kranti Express are equally unavailable, offering no relief to desperate travellers.
Skyrocketing flight tickets
With railways out of the equation, flying remains the only alternative — but at an astronomical cost. One-way flight tickets from Delhi to major Kerala hubs like Kochi, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, and Kannur have surged past ₹15,000. For a typical family of four, just the outbound flight will set them back by at least ₹60,000, bringing the total round-trip travel expenditure closer to a staggering ₹1.2 lakh. This has forced many middle-class families to cancel their travel plans and celebrate a quiet Onam away from home.