Big rush for Goa carnival

The trains and buses leaving for Goa are full this weekend with the Goa carnival,the states official function,set to start today.

Written by PrashantRangnekar
Mumbai | February 21, 2009 05:20 AM IST

3 min read

The trains and buses leaving for Goa are full this weekend with the Goa carnival,the states official function,set to start today. According to the transporters,many of the commuters leaving for Goa will be participating in the event. Among various colourful festivals,which are celebrated in Goa,the Goa Carnival is the most awaited event.

There has been a great response from the commuters. The bookings for the AC as well as Non- AC coaches are almost over. Because of the convenient timings,the carnival has become quite popular amongst the weekend travellers, said Shriniwas Mudgerikar,chief spokesperson,Central Railway (CR). The CRs new CST-Madgoan (Goa) train which commenced from February 20,would take passengers to Goa in less than nine hours. Similarly,the trains to Goa run by the Konkan Railway (KR) also take almost the same duration to reach Goa.

This story requires a subscription

Select a plan and use IE10 code to get 10% extra off

POPULAR

EXPRESS EDGE

Daily ePaper access

Premium stories & archives

UPSC Section + UPSC Essentials Magazine

Premium stories & archives

UPSC Section + UPSC Essentials Magazine

Starts at ₹133/month

Best for UPSC aspirants

This story requires a subscription

Please Select A Plan

POPULAR

EXPRESS EDGE

Daily ePaper access

Premium stories & archives

UPSC Section + UPSC Essentials Magazine

Premium stories & archives

UPSC Section + UPSC Essentials Magazine

Starts at ₹133/month

Best for UPSC aspirants

The response to Goa carnival is good. All my buses leaving for Goa in next two days are full despite 20 per cent fare hike, said Harsh Kotak,vice president of the Maharashtra Rajya truck,tempo,tanker,bus vahatuk Sangh and also the owner of Modern Travels that has regular services to Goa.

The carnival is a four-day festival filled with fun,music and dance. According to Deepak Narvekar,the spokesperson for the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC),the festival is officially organised on February 21 in Panaji. It will be organised in Madgaon and Vasco-da-Gama in the subsequent days and Mapusa on the last day.

People not only from India,but also from the other countries participate in the carnival. But majorly tourists from from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra,Karnataka and cities like Mumbai,Pune and Bangalore come to participate in the event, said a GTDC official associated with the carnival.

The Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has planned a special package travel for the festival. But we have not yet received the expected response. We feel that recession could be one of the reasons for this, said R D Sharma,IRCTCs group general manager (west zone). Considering the rush for the festival,the corporation had planned special train services from Mumbai,Ahemdabad,Surat and Vododara.

Janshatabdi daily
The CST-Madgaon (Goa) Janshatabdi would now run daily. According to an official from the Konkan Railway,the train which used to run six days a week will now run daily after the railway ministrys announcement.