The heightened passenger demand during the summer season, the Indian Railways has announced the operation of two additional special trains. These trains will service the Patna-Mangaluru Central route in Karnataka and the Muzaffarpur-Secunderabad route, both originating from the East Central Railway (ECR) jurisdiction.
Saraswati Chandra, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of ECR, detailed the schedule for these special services. The Patna-Mangaluru Central special train (03243/03244) is set to depart from Patna at 10:30 PM on Saturday, June 1, and will arrive in Mangaluru Central at 7:00 AM on Tuesday, June 4. The return journey will commence from Mangaluru Central at 8:00 PM on the same day, reaching Patna at 5:30 AM on Friday, June 7. This train will traverse the Danapur-Ara-Buxar-DDU route.
Similarly, the Muzaffarpur-Secunderabad special train (05295/05296) will leave Muzaffarpur at 1:00 PM on Saturday and arrive in Secunderabad by 10:00 PM the following day. The return trip is scheduled to start from Secunderabad at 10:00 AM on Monday, reaching Muzaffarpur by 9:00 PM the next day. This service will operate via the Hajipur-Patliputra-Danapur-Ara-DDU route.
In tandem with these new services, the railways has announced the cancellation of six passenger trains and the short termination of three others due to ongoing track doubling and non-interlocking (NI) works on the Muzaffarpur-Paniahwa route under the Samastipur division of the ECR. These works are scheduled to occur from June 6 to 16. Additionally, the routes of 18 other trains will be diverted during this period to accommodate the maintenance activities.
These measures are part of a broader strategy to manage the surge in passenger traffic during the summer months and ensure smoother operations despite the necessary infrastructure enhancements. The introduction of these special trains aims to alleviate the pressure on existing services, providing relief to passengers traveling from the ECR jurisdiction.
================================================================
