New Delhi: In view of the huge crowd of passengers in trains during Diwali and Chhath Puja, Railways has announced to run more than 10 thousand special trains. Apart from this, a decision has also been taken to increase general coaches in more than 100 trains. This decision of Railways will provide convenience to about one crore passengers. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav gave this information. Vaishnav informed on Friday that Railways has made special preparations keeping in mind Diwali and Chhath Puja. Railways is going to increase general coaches in about 108 trains, so that more and more passengers can get the opportunity to travel.
He said that approval has been given to operate 12,500 special trains during Diwali and Chhath Puja. Additionally, 5,975 trains have been notified in 2024-2025. According to the Railways, this will facilitate more than 1 crore passengers to go home during the Diwali and Chhath Puja rush. Let us tell you, the number of puja special trains in the year 2023 and 2024 was 4,429. Earlier on September 25, there was talk of running a special train between Anand Vihar and Barauni.
The special train will start from October 6 and run till November 17. The train will be AC special, which will reach Barauni from Anand Vihar via Lucknow. The train will leave Anand Vihar at 9 am and reach Barauni at 6:30 am the next day. AC special trains will stop at Aligarh, Tundla, Etawah, Kanpur, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Ghazipur City, Ballia, Suremanpur, Chhapra and Hajipur. This train will have 18 coaches including 16 third AC, 2 power cars.
Let us tell you that every year on the occasion of Diwali and Chhath Puja, a large number of people from across the country leave for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. For the people of UP-Bihar, this festival not only has religious significance, but is also an important occasion to meet families. During this period, the situation becomes such that most of the train tickets go on waiting list two-three months in advance. Traveling often becomes difficult due to heavy crowding in trains.