Railways Launch 15 Special Trains for Diwali-Chhath Rush, Ticket Booking Begins

New Delhi: Railways has made big arrangements for the people preparing to go home on Diwali and Chhath. In view of the increasing crowd in trains during festivals, it has been decided to run special trains on many routes. This is expected to be of great help to passengers going to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh. Booking of tickets has also started, so those who have just made travel plans should not delay in making reservations.

Where will special trains be available?

In the railway list, the special train running between Mumbai Central and Katihar will make the maximum number of trips. 77 additional trips of this train have been scheduled between September 5 and November 17. The train will make 14 additional trips between Kanpur Central and Guwahati from September 10 to December 11. There will be 12 trips on the Katihar-Amritsar route between September 9 and November 27.

Special train will also run between Dibrugarh and Kolkata. Its 13 additional rounds have been scheduled between September 5 and November 30. Along with this, additional trains will also be available on Varanasi-Delhi, Ayodhya Cantt-Anand Vihar, Chandigarh-Patna, Firozpur Cantt-Patna and Anand Vihar-Jogbani routes.

Why will the crowd increase in trains going to Bihar-UP?

After Diwali, the festival of Chhath is celebrated on a large scale in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. This is the reason why these days the demand for seats in trains going towards Bihar from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru suddenly increases. This time too, a fight for tickets is expected on routes like Delhi-Patna, Mumbai-Patna, Delhi-Gorakhpur and Ahmedabad-Patna.

What things should be kept in mind while booking?

It would be better for those taking online tickets to login to IRCTC a few minutes before the start of booking. Keep options like UPI or IRCTC wallet ready for payment so that it does not take much time during payment. Many times, even a small delay in payment while booking a ticket makes the difference between having a seat available and being in waiting list.

Which special trains are important?

Apart from Varanasi-Delhi, Ayodhya Cantt-Anand Vihar, Chandigarh-Patna, Firozpur Cantt-Patna, Anand Vihar-Muzaffarpur and Delhi-Sitamarhi, special trains will also be run between New Delhi-Kanpur, Barauni-New Delhi and Darbhanga-New Delhi. For homebound passengers during the festival season, finding a seat in these trains can be an additional option over regular trains.

Why did railway preparations increase?

Every year around Diwali and Chhath, the number of passengers at railway stations increases manifold. Especially in trains going towards Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, the demand for seats is very high. To reduce this pressure, railways run additional trips and special trains. Passengers are advised to check the available train information according to their route and date and book their tickets in time.