Maligaon, October 24 (MExN): Indian Railways has made extensive arrangements, including running over 12,000 special trains, to manage the festive rush during Puja, Diwali, and Chhath, officials said on Saturday. This marks a significant increase from the 7,724 special trains operated during the same period last year.
In the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) zone, 48 special festival trains are running, covering 620 trips across various routes from September to December 2025.
Special arrangements have been made at major stations like Katihar, New Jalpaiguri, Guwahati, Jogbani, and Kishanganj. These include setting up holding areas, enhancing passenger announcement systems, installing additional fans, and deploying extra ticket counters and automatic ticket vending machines to ensure smooth passenger movement.
Round-the-clock war rooms have been established, and additional staff, including personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), have been deployed for effective crowd management and passenger assistance.
The special trains are connecting key destinations across the country, including Katihar, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri, Sonpur, Dauram Madhepura, Agartala, New Tinsukia, SMVT Bengaluru, Amritsar, Patna, Dibrugarh, Gorakhpur, Silchar, Naharlagun, Kolkata, Guwahati, Ranchi, Charalapalli, Mumbai Central, Agra Cantt, Jogbani, Lumding, Howrah, Gomti Nagar, Anand Vihar, and Kamakhya.
Detailing the schedule for Saturday, a Railways spokesperson listed several trains. The Train No. 07541 Katihar – Dauram Madhepura (Daily Special) will depart from Katihar at 19:00 hours and arrive at Dauram Madhepura at 22:00 hours. The Train No. 07542 Dauram Madhepura – Katihar (Daily Special) will depart from Dauram Madhepura at 22:45 hours and arrive at Katihar at 2:30 hours.
The Train No. 07540 Katihar – Manihari (Daily Special) will depart at 20:30 hours, arriving at Manihari at 21:30 hours. Its counterpart, Train No. 07539 Manihari – Katihar (Daily Special), will depart at 5:00 hours and arrive at 6:00 hours.
Other daily specials include Train No. 07551 Manihari – Katihar (departing 00:15 hours, arriving 01:30 hours), Train No. 07552 Katihar – Manihari (departing 02:00 hours, arriving 03:15 hours), Train No. 07555 Katihar – Jogbani (departing 21:30 hours, arriving 01:15 hours), and Train No. 07554 Jogbani – Katihar (departing 02:00 hours, arriving 05:45 hours).
Significant weekly specials scheduled for Saturday include Train No. 05733 Amritsar – Kishanganj (departing 04:25 hours, arriving 17:30 hours), Train No. 05932 Dibrugarh – Kolkata (departing 17:00 hours, arriving 00:30 hours), and Train No. 06560 Narangi- SMVT Bengaluru (departing 05:30 hours, arriving 09:45 hours).
Other weekly specials in operation are Train No. 05740 New Jalpaiguri – Patna (departing 05:00 hours, arriving 17:40 hours), Train No. 05739 Patna – New Jalpaiguri (departing 19:30 hours, arriving 09:30 hours), Train No. 07046 Charlapalli – Naharlagun (departing 08:30 hours, arriving 16:00 hours), Train No. 09189 Mumbai Central – Katihar (departing 11:00 hours, arriving 07:30 hours), Train No. 04196 Jogbani- Agra Cantt. (departing 21:00 hours, arriving 07:10 hours), Train No. 03006 Lumding - Howrah (departing 11:00 hours, arriving 12:30 hours), Train No. 04008 Anand Vihar Terminal - Jogbani (departing 08:30 hours, arriving 17:00 hours), and Train No. 08621 Ranchi - Kamakhya (departing 20:00 hours, arriving 23:00 hours).
Passengers are advised to plan their journeys in advance and cooperate with railway staff to ensure safe and comfortable travel during the festive season.
