Ranchi/Jamshedpur, Nov. 5: With bus strike affecting services between Bihar and Jharkhand showing no signs of ending, the railways is reaping its benefits by clocking huge sales in daily tickets.

Sources in the Ranchi division of the railways said: “The waiting list for sleeper class reservations in Hatia-Patna Express and Hatia-Gorakhpur Express is increasing steadily. As of today, the waitlist in the two trains are about 40.”

Normally, reservations on Bihar bound trains are available a day before departure, as commuters prefer travelling by bus.

The sale of tickets for unreserved compartments, said a railway official, shot up by 30 per cent within two days of the bus strike. “We have already decided to provide extra sleeper class coaches in these two trains if the figure of waitlisted passengers exceeds by 70.”

Bus Owners’ Association of Jharkhand met in the state capital this evening and unanimously decided to continue the “indefinite strike”.

“The Bihar government has to pay heed to our demands. We are glad our state government has stood by us on this issue,” claimed Ranchi Bus Owners’ Association president Krishna Mohan Singh.

The Bihar government, informed president of Bihar Bus Owners’ Federation Uday Shanker Singh, who, however, has refused to review the increase in road tax tariff for buses registered outside Bihar.

“I had a talk with Bihar transport minister Ajit Kumar today, and he has categorically refused to review the increase in the road tax. I have requested him to talk with his Jharkhand counterpart Anosh Ekka to resolve the deadlock,” Singh said.

A delegation of the Bihar Bus Owners’ Federation is expected to call on Ekka in Ranchi on Tuesday. “We are taking the initiative to see to it that both the governments sit together to end this impasse,” federation general secretary Satish Chandra Sinha added.

Commuters were left in the lurch as buses on the Jharkhand-Bihar route stayed off for the fourth consecutive day today. Not a single private bus left the Sitaramdera terminus, apart from five BSRTC buses, which carried passengers beyond capacity.

Upendra Sharma, chief patron of Jamshedpur Bus Owners’ Association, said operators refused to pay the increased road tax of Rs 42,500. “The private operators had deposited Rs 8,570 in advance for the renewal of the temporary permit for 119 days. They should be allowed to run the buses for the 119 days. By such time necessary formalities should be completed by the transport department of both the states to issue permanent permit,” he added.