1,205 special trains over next four days to manage Chhath festival rush: Indian Railways

As lakhs of passengers begin their annual journey home for Chhath Puja, Indian Railways has rolled out an extensive travel plan to tackle the festive rush. Over the next four days alone, 1,205 special trains will operate across the network, while 2,220 additional trains have been scheduled for Bihar through October and November to meet the massive travel demand.

With crowded platforms, soaring ticket bookings, and long queues at major junctions, the Railways have gone into overdrive, setting up 24x7 war rooms, control centres, and deploying thousands of staff to ensure safe, smooth and timely travel.

Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw also visited the War Room at the Railway Board in New Delhi on Thursday to review passenger movement during the festive season. He said that war rooms have been established at the division, zone, and Railway Board levels, providing live feeds from all locations for real-time monitoring and coordination. Mini control rooms have also been set up at major stations to oversee crowd management and train deployment.

Vaishnaw said around 10,700 reserved and 3,000 unreserved trains are currently in operation to manage the festive surge.

He said that the number of special trains is determined through data analysis of the past two years, using a predictive model to assess demand for each destination.

The first peak in travel was observed between October 17 and 20, with the highest passenger footfall on the 18 and 19, while the second wave is expected between October 22 and 24.

Highlighting infrastructure improvements, Vaishnaw said that the newly built permanent holding area at New Delhi Station can now accommodate over 7,000 passengers and is equipped with 150 toilets each for men and women, automatic ticket vending machines, ticket counters, and free RO drinking water facilities, easing congestion and improving passenger comfort.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu visited Ambala Cantt Railway Station and inspected the special festive arrangements made by Indian Railways.

Passenger numbers in the Delhi area have already surged. On October 21, as many as 1,69,986 unreserved passengers departed from six major stations, New Delhi, Delhi Junction, Anand Vihar Terminal, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shakurbasti, and Ghaziabad, reflecting a 5.62 per cent increase compared to the same day after Diwali last year. On October 22, the figure climbed further to 1,71,753 passengers, marking a 7.01 per cent year-on-year rise.

To handle the spike, 30 special trains were scheduled to originate from major Delhi stations on Thursday, apart from six passing specials. On October 24, 17 more special trains will operate from the Delhi region.