Central Railway will operate 24 special train services between October 18 and 22 to manage the expected passenger rush to Nagpur for Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Diwas 2026, according to a press release issued by the railway on October 13 and reported by Mid-Day.
The services will connect Nagpur with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai, Pune, Solapur, Nashik Road, Akola and Bhusaval. The additional trains are intended to support passengers travelling to Nagpur for the annual observance, which commemorates Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s conversion to Buddhism with his followers in 1956.
Thousands of followers travel to Nagpur for the occasion. Central Railway said the 24 services would comprise reserved and unreserved trains operating across six routes. The services include four reserved trains between Nagpur and Akola, six unreserved services between CSMT and Nagpur, four unreserved services between Pune and Nagpur, two unreserved services between Solapur and Nagpur, four unreserved services between Nagpur and Bhusaval, and four unreserved MEMU services between Nashik Road and Nagpur.
On the Nagpur-Akola route, train 01131 will depart Nagpur at 6.40 pm on October 20 and 21, arriving in Akola at 11.30 pm. The return train, 01132, will leave Akola at 12.20 am on October 21 and 22 and reach Nagpur at 4.50 am.
For the CSMT-Nagpur route, trains 01019 and 01020 will operate on October 19, 20, 21 and 22. Trains 01219 and 01220 will run on October 18 and 19. The Pune-Nagpur services will include train 01215, which will leave Pune at 2.50 pm on October 19 and 21, and train 01216, which will depart Nagpur at 11 pm on October 20 and 22.
The railway has also scheduled services from Solapur, Bhusaval and Nashik Road. Train 01029 will leave Solapur at 9.50 am on October 19, while train 01030 will depart Nagpur at 11.30 pm on October 20. On the Bhusaval route, train 01214 will leave Nagpur at 9.30 pm on October 20 and 21, with return services scheduled as train 01213. The Nashik Road-Nagpur MEMU specials will operate on October 18 and 20, with return services from Nagpur on October 19 and 21.
Depending on the service, the trains will halt at key stations including Dadar, Thane, Kalyan, Igatpuri, Nashik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Akola, Badnera, Wardha and Ajni. The reserved Nagpur-Akola trains will include AC 2-tier, AC 3-tier, sleeper-class and general second-class coaches. Unreserved services will carry sleeper-class and/or general second-class coaches, while the Nashik Road-Nagpur MEMU specials will have 12 coaches.
Bookings for trains 01131 and 01132 are available through computerised reservation centres and the IRCTC website. Passengers travelling in unreserved coaches can pay normal fares through the UTS system or the RailOne app.
