Utility News Desk!!! In view of the huge rush of passengers during festivals, special trains are run by the Railways every year. Although despite all the efforts of the Railways, there is a lot of trouble regarding tickets during festivals, but this time Northern Railway has decided to run more than 3000 special trains during festivals so that the passengers do not have to face any kind of problem. And can go to their respective homes on festivals. Northern Railway has planned to run 3,144 special trains from October 1 to November 30, the highest ever.
85 percent special trains will run from these states
Ashok Kumar Verma, General Manager, Northern Railway, said, ‘Northern Railways has planned to run the highest ever number of 3,144 trains from October 1, 2024 to November 30, 2024. ‘About 85 percent of festival special trains will be run for passengers going to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam.’ He said, ‘To ensure smooth travel during Diwali and Chhath festivals, 195 special trains have been planned from 26 October 2024 to 7 November 2024. The number of trips of special trains during the same period last year was 138.
Berths will also be increased in trains
According to Verma, in 13 days, Northern Railway will run 65 additional trains daily from Delhi, which will provide 1.20 lakh additional berths. According to Northern Railway officials, 59 trains were run in the same period last year. Apart from this, to reduce crowding and facilitate comfortable travel, regular trains will also run 123 special trips. Also, 49 additional coaches will be added to important trains from 26 October to 7 November. Verma said, ‘The Delhi (DLI)/New Delhi (NDLS)/Anand Vihar Terminal railway sector connects major destinations across the country such as Patna, Danapur, Muzaffarpur, Jogbani, Saharsa, Jaynagar, Katihar, Darbhanga, Gorakhpur, Raxaul, Varanasi, Special trains have been planned to connect Gaya, Shri Vaishno Devi Katra. A total of 1,70,434 additional berths (including special trains and extra coaches) will be available during this period, as against 1,48,750 berths available during the same period in 2023, he said. Overall, around 54,000 unreserved passenger capacity (41,000 last year) will be available in the special trains, Verma said.
Special arrangements were made for crowd management
Talking about crowd management at New Delhi Railway Station during Diwali and Chhath Puja, Verma said some important changes have been made for example, 12566 Bihar Sampark Kranti, 12394 Sampoorna Kranti, 12554 Vaishali and 12802 Popular eastbound trains such as Purushottam Express will operate from platform number 16. Verma said that for the first time, Qatar will have a separate gate for non-reserved passengers on the NDLS platform. Mini control rooms will be set up at railway stations. Adequate facilities including pandals, enquiry-cum-reservation counters, mobile toilet blocks, catering stalls, temporary waiting areas with medical/first aid facilities, tickets, water, toilets and food are also available to facilitate crowd management.