Ganpati special trains will extend Mumbai’s suburban rail connectivity deep into the night during the festival, with Central Railway set to operate 22 additional services across the Main and Harbour lines between September 23 and September 26, including the main immersion night.
The services are intended to help devotees and passengers travel after late-night celebrations and Ganpati immersion activities. Central Railway will operate special trains on the Main Line between CSMT Mumbai and Kalyan or Thane on the nights of September 23-24, September 24-25 and September 25-26.
On the Harbour Line, four additional special suburban trains will run between CSMT Mumbai and Panvel during the night of September 25-26. The service coincides with the main immersion period and is aimed at providing additional rail capacity between south Mumbai and the eastern and harbour suburbs.
According to Dr Swapnil Nila, Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railway, the Railways have announced 390 special trains for Ganpati Festival 2026 in addition to regular scheduled services. Central Railway will operate 262 of these services, while Western Railway will run 64, Konkan Railway 58 and South Central Railway six.
The Central Railway special trains on the CSMT-Kalyan and CSMT-Thane routes will halt at all stations between their origin and destination. The same all-station stopping pattern will apply to the four CSMT-Panvel services on the Harbour Line, according to the railway announcement.
The additional services place Mumbai’s suburban railway at the centre of the city’s festival transport plan. Ganpati celebrations generate late-night travel demand across multiple parts of the metropolitan region, while immersion processions and public gatherings can extend well beyond the normal evening commuting period. The special trains are therefore structured around the routes connecting central Mumbai with densely populated suburban destinations.
Central Railway has advised passengers travelling for Ganpati celebrations and immersion to use the special night suburban services. The supplied announcement does not include the detailed departure timings for each service; passengers will need to check the railway’s official travel information before planning their journeys.
The night services will run over the three Main Line nights beginning September 23-24, while the additional Harbour Line trains are scheduled only for the September 25-26 immersion night.
