Diwali 2024: Indian Railways announces over 200 trains for festive season | Details inside

Diwali 2024: As the festivities across India begin with Dhanteras today, the Indian Railways has announced over 200 special trains for the upcoming Diwali and Chhath Puja festive season. The trains will begin operating from today, October 29.

All the trains would be connecting major junctions across states such as Anand Vihar terminal in Delhi, Varanasi junction in Uttar Pradesh, Pune junction, among others. In addition, around 20 ‘Festival Special Trains’ would also be running today, announced the Railways Board.

An addition to the existing trains, the special trains have been introduced with several extra coaches to meet the increased passenger rush during the festive time, said the Indian Railways.

Platform ticket sales closed till Nov 8

The Western Railways is running 200 trains for the festive season. Of these, around 40 trains are managed by the Mumbai Division of WR, from which 22 are headed to destinations in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Odisha, stated a press release by the department.

Following the stampede at Bandra, additional staff have also been deployed at the terminus, and other stations such as Surat, Udhna, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad, to tackle the huge rush.

In addition, Western Railway has temporarily restricted platform ticket sales at major stations in the Mumbai Division until November 8, 2024. These stations include Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra Terminus, Borivali, Vasai Road, Vapi, Valsad, Udhna, and Surat, to help control crowding and ensure smooth movement within the station premises.

Eastern Railways increases trains to 50 from 33

Eastern Railway Chief Public Relation Officer Kaushik Mitra announced that the Eastern Railway is operating 50 special trains and providing 400 additional services during Diwali and Chhath Puja, reported PTI.

In 2023, the number of special trains was 33, which has been increased to 50 this year, added Mitra.

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