New Delhi: Ahead of Chhath Puja, Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar on Sunday inspected various facilities when he said that the railways is running 195 special trains for 13 days from the Delhi area for the convenience of passengers this year.
"We are running 195 special trains for 13 days from the Delhi area this year. Today, 70 trains are running from Delhi, of which 16 are special trains, and 4 trains are unannounced. Through these measures, we are trying to provide more facilities to passengers. I enquired with passengers about the arrangements, they are satisfied." The Railway Board chairman also interacted with passengers travelling amid the Chhath Puja rush.
According to railway ministry officials, the railway is running about 7500 special trains this year, while 4500 special trains were run last year. The railways ran more than 188 special trains on November 3, and 185 trains are being run on November 4. These train services, a mixed combination of AC, Sleeper, General coaches and unreserved specials, will help to cater the extra passengers, returning to their hometowns for celebrating Chhath.
Multiple trains to handle crowd
Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board said that Indian Railways ran more than 160 trains on Thursday and plans to run more than 170 trains on Sunday. He said special arrangements have been made at all major stations including New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Mumbai, Bandra, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru. "We are running many trains to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to control the crowd. Yesterday we ran more than 160 trains and today we are planning to run more than 170 trains," he said.
Kumar further said that the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel have been deployed to control the crowd and rail sevaks are available to assist passengers with any queries. He said that extra coaches have been added to the special trains and hundreds of CCTV cameras have been installed at stations to monitor the movement of people. "Tickets can be booked through both online and offline systems," Kumar said.
Festive cheer ahead! 🎇
— Northern Railway (@RailwayNorthern) November 3, 2024
Northern Railway is operating special trains to ensure a hassle-free journey for all passengers during the festive season.
For detailed schedules, visit the https://t.co/ztVEU9fk80 or download the NTES app!#FestivalSpecialTrains pic.twitter.com/e4sGBmxJ1v
Passengers can use unreserved seats
Satish Kumar said that they have restricted unnecessary movement of passengers, and railway servants are present to assist senior and physically challenged citizens. Chhath is an important festival celebrated mainly in the northern and eastern parts of India, including Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
To ensure passenger comfort and convenience, the Railway has enhanced passenger facilities and implemented several measures across its network. ‘May I Help you’ booths are provided to guide and help the passengers at important stations across the rail network. Numbers of ticket counters at various stations have been increased to facilitate the passengers. Holding areas are created at major stations to control extra rush at stations. Free drinking water, food and toilet facilities are being provided to all passengers at designated holding areas within station premises, the railway officials informed.
Northern Railway will run 39 trains on November 4 to provide relief to the passengers going home for Chhath. These will go to other states including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Passengers who do not have reserved tickets can travel in general coaches by taking unreserved tickets in these trains and reach their destination. A large number of people went to their homes to celebrate Diwali and Chhath Mahaparva even before Diwali. But a large number of passengers could not go to celebrate Chhath Mahaparva before Diwali. The number of trains carrying people going home to celebrate Chhath Mahaparva with their families has increased and special trains are being run for their convenience.
Northern Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay said that this time 7435 special trains are being operated by the Indian Railways, whereas last year 4500 trains were operated. Today, on 4 November, 39 trains are being operated for the convenience of the passengers going home on the occasion of Chhath Mahaparva. General coaches have been installed along with AC sleeper in all these trains so that those passengers who do not have reserved tickets can travel in general coaches and reach their destination. The number of passengers traveling in general coaches is being seen more. In such a situation, at big railway stations like New Delhi Anand Vihar, passengers traveling in general coaches are being made to stand in a queue and sent to the coach so that there is no stampede for seats.
Trains from Delhi on 4 November:
04032 Anand Vihar to Saharsa
04232 New Delhi to Saharsa
04080 Old Delhi to Varanasi
04096 Anand Vihar to Ayodhya Cantt
04078 Anand Vihar to Patna
04058 Anand Vihar to Muzaffarpur
02246 Hazrat Nizamuddin to Patna
04494 New Delhi to Patna
04052 New Delhi to Jaynagar
03256 Anand Vihar to Patna
03258 Anand Vihar to Danapur
05220 Anand Vihar to Muzaffarpur
05224 Anand Vihar to Gorakhpur
03414 New Delhi to Malda Town
04124 Hazrat Nizamuddin to Prayagraj
02422 Old Delhi to Subedarganj
05002 Old Delhi to Barauni
02570 New Delhi to Darbhanga
02398 Anand Vihar to Gaya
05284 Anand Vihar to Muzaffarpur
02394 New Delhi to Patna Junction
09310 Hazrat Nizamuddin to Indore
0772 Hazrat Nizamuddin to Thiruvananthapuram
Passenger Advisory:
Passengers are advised to arrive timely at the station to avoid any last-minute inconvenience. The timely arrival will help in ensuring a smoother boarding process and more comfortable travel experience.
Control Rooms:
Special control rooms have been set up at Railway Board, Zonal Railway Division and station level to monitor passenger facilities and punctuality of trains at stations.
Special Arrangements:
Special arrangements have been made for the convenience of passengers for the entry in trains in a queue. Additional staff and RPF personnel have been deployed for crowd management.
Reserve Rakes:
Railway has kept reserve rakes at some important stations which have been made to run them immediately in case of heavy crowds.
