India’s festive railway rush has overwhelmed major stations across Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, with passengers facing packed trains, long queues and waits of up to 12 hours as Diwali and Chhath Puja travel intensifies.
The pressure is particularly visible on routes linking large employment centres with Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and other eastern states. Passengers have struggled to board trains, while railway stations and bus terminals have recorded sharp increases in footfall. At some locations, commuters have been seen pushing into overcrowded coaches or seeking informal transport after failing to find space on scheduled services.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said preparations for the festive season began six months ago and included additional special trains, holding areas, extra ticket counters, scanning facilities and crowd-monitoring systems. He said the Railways operated around 75,000 special trains in the last financial year, while the figure had crossed 80,000 this year.
The minister said the number of special trains operated during the festive season had increased from around 12,000 last year to 18,000 additional special trains this year, despite some services being converted into regular trains. He also said around 700 AI-enabled cameras had been installed at various locations to strengthen crowd monitoring.
Around 20 stations have been provided with holding areas where passengers can wait before entering platforms. According to Vaishnaw, ticket counters have been shifted to some of these areas and additional scanning counters have been installed to allow parallel passenger processing and reduce queues inside station premises.
In Delhi, Anand Vihar Railway Station is using its permanent Passenger Facilitation Centre as a designated holding area. The facility has seating and ticket counters and is intended to keep passengers away from crowded platforms until their trains are ready for boarding. The arrangement is aimed at reducing congestion and the risk of stampede-like situations during periods of heavy movement.
Gurgaon has also reported severe overcrowding at railway and metro stations, along with packed trains, long queues at bus terminals and limited alternative transport. In Mumbai, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus is handling around five to six eastbound trains each day, including services to Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Patna, Danapur, Muzaffarpur, Raxaul and destinations in Jharkhand. Central Railway is operating festival special trains alongside regular services.
In Tamil Nadu, migrant workers travelling from Tiruppur towards Bihar and Jharkhand have faced difficulty boarding packed trains. The journey can take about 48 hours through Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, increasing the consequences of limited space and overcrowding on long-distance services. Railway station visuals cited in the report showed passengers attempting to board heavily packed coaches, with some clinging to footboards.
Uttar Pradesh stations including Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, Lucknow’s Charbagh station and Prayagraj have also seen heavy passenger movement. At Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, passengers travelling from Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat have struggled to find space. GRP, RPF and commercial department personnel have been deployed in greater numbers to manage crowds and passenger safety.
At Surat’s Udhna station, passengers have reportedly waited in queues for up to 12 hours. Western Railway has notified more than 70 special trains from Surat and Udhna to different destinations. Western Railway chief public relations officer Vineet Abhishek said festival and summer travel periods produce high passenger demand and that keeping passengers off platforms while they wait is important for preventing overcrowding and stampede-like situations.
Vaishnaw said the peak rush had occurred during Dhanteras, while another major surge was expected around three days before Chhath Puja. Railway authorities are continuing to rely on special services, holding areas, expanded scanning capacity, security deployment and camera-based monitoring as the next period of high passenger movement approaches.
