Festival special trains will make more than 6,200 trips during the Diwali and Chhath travel season, with the Railways increasing services by about 30% from last year to manage heavy passenger demand on routes from Delhi towards Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and other eastern destinations.
The additional services are being planned as trains experience a sharp rise in demand ahead of the festivals. The heaviest pressure is on east-bound routes, where passengers travelling home have continued to face difficulty securing seats even after special trains are announced.
Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, chief public relations officer of Northern Railway, said arrangements were being made to ensure that passengers did not face difficulties while travelling home during the festival period. The measures include additional security at stations, expanded passenger facilities, more ticket counters and deployment of extra staff.
Railway data cited in the report shows that 4,666 special train trips were operated during the festival period last year. This year, the number is expected to cross 6,200, representing an increase of approximately 30%. Northern Railway stations will also see 42 new trains operated this year, adding capacity to the seasonal travel network.
The listed services include trains connecting Delhi with Patna, Pataliputra, Danapur, Gaya, Kamakhya and Howrah, along with routes between Shakurbasti and Darbhanga, Chandigarh and Patna, Amritsar and Barauni, Amritsar and Jaynagar, and Mata Vaishno Devi and Varanasi. Other services will connect destinations across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal.
The scale-up highlights the recurring seasonal pressure placed on the railway network by concentrated festival travel. In practical terms, the challenge is not limited to train capacity: passengers also depend on station-level crowd management, ticket access, security arrangements and information systems during a short period of exceptionally high demand.
For passengers, the increased services may create more travel options, but the source report also notes that seats on special trains can fill quickly after announcements. The Railways has therefore linked the train expansion with additional counters, staff deployment and station security rather than treating extra services as the sole response.
Northern Railway’s stated next steps are to operate the additional special trains, strengthen security and expand passenger facilities at stations during the Diwali and Chhath travel period.
