Indian Railways- As the festival season approaches, Indian Railways has announced 150 Puja special trains for the convenience of passengers. These trains will run from 21 September to 30 November and will make a total of 2,024 trips on major routes across the country.

South Central Railway (SCR) will run the highest number of trains

A total of 48 trains, covering 684 journeys. The move is expected to bring great relief to passengers in Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Vijayawada, which are the busiest hubs of the south zone.

Special focus on Bihar routes

Keeping in mind the heavy rush in Bihar during festivals, East Central Railway (ECR) will run 14 trains, which will make 588 trips. These trains will connect major cities like Patna, Gaya, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur, where travel demand traditionally increases during festivals.

How many trains from which zone?

South Central Railway (SCR)- 48 trains (Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Vijayawada routes)

East Central Railway (ECR)- 14 trains (Patna, Gaya, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur routes)

Eastern Railway (ER)- 24 trains (Kolkata, Sealdah, Howrah routes)

Western Railway (WR)- 24 trains (Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara routes)

Southern Railway (SR)- 10 trains (Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai routes- 66 trips)

 

Apart from this, special services will also run from Bhubaneswar, Puri, Sambalpur (East Coast Railway), Ranchi, Tatanagar (South Eastern Railway), Prayagraj, Kanpur (North Central Railway), and Bilaspur, Raipur, Bhopal, Kota etc.

Surat to Kolkata special trains

will also benefit passengers from Gujarat as Western Railway is going to run 24 festival trains, including Surat. Similarly, Eastern Railway will run 24 trains with 198 trips between Kolkata, Sealdah and Howrah, connecting eastern India to major festival destinations. Indian Railways has clarified that this is just the first announcement. In previous years, during festivals, the railways have run more than 12,000 special trains to meet the growing demand. Officials have indicated that more trains may be announced in the coming weeks, especially on the East Central routes, where passenger rush is expected to increase.