There is good news for the travelers going home on Diwali and Chhath Puja. In view of the increasing crowd in trains, Northern Railway has made preparations to run more than 6,200 trips this year. This time there will be about 30 percent more trips than last year. Passengers going from Delhi to UP, Bihar and Bengal can benefit from this.
New Delhi: As soon as Diwali and Chhath Puja approach, it becomes difficult to get tickets in trains going from Delhi to UP and Bihar. There is long waiting time in many trains. Keeping this problem in mind, Northern Railway has made preparations to run more trains this time. According to the Railways, more than 6,200 trips of special and new regular services are planned during the festivals. With this, people going home may get some more chances to get tickets.
Preparation to run more trains than last year
Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay said that last year during the festival season, special trains had made a total of 4,666 trips. This time there are preparations to keep this number more than 6,200. Railways has already announced 3,600 special train trips. Apart from this, 42 new trains have been regularised. These trains will make about 2,600 trips during the festivals.
It is important to understand here that the figure of 6,200 is not the number of individual trains. A train travels several times and each journey is counted as one trip. Railways says that more trips will provide relief to people traveling during festivals.
Benefit for those going from Delhi to UP and Bihar
During festivals, a large number of people from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana return to their villages and cities. Especially in trains going to Bihar, there is a lot of crowd around Chhath Puja. This time, Railways has planned to provide additional services on routes like Delhi-Patna Vande Bharat, Shakurbasti-Darbhanga, Chandigarh-Patna and Anand Vihar-Patliputra.
Apart from this, trains will also run between New Delhi-Danapur, Delhi-Gaya and Amritsar-Barauni. The number of passengers on these routes is high. Therefore, due to additional trips, crowding in regular trains may reduce somewhat.
Special trains will also run on these routes
Railways has made arrangements not only for UP and Bihar but also for passengers going to other states. Routes like New Delhi-Howrah, Delhi-Kamakhya, Amritsar-Jayanagar and Kolkata-Yoga city Rishikesh are also included in this scheme. Passengers traveling between Mata Vaishno Devi-Varanasi will also get the option of additional train service.
However, not all trains will run daily. Which train will operate on which day will depend on its schedule. Therefore, before booking tickets, please check the date and time.
Passengers with waiting tickets may get another option
People start booking tickets months in advance to go home on Diwali and Chhath. Even after so much preparation, the tickets of many passengers remain waiting. It becomes very difficult to get a seat in trains going from Delhi to Patna, Darbhanga and Varanasi during festivals. Special trains can be useful for such passengers. If the ticket is not confirmed in a regular train, then you can search for a seat in other trains running on the same route. This will provide some more options to reach home.
However, running a special train does not mean that everyone will get a confirmed ticket. In which train you will get a place, it will depend on the booking and vacant seats at that time.
It is not easy to handle the crowd at Delhi's railway stations.
As the festival approaches, the movement of passengers starts increasing at major railway stations of Delhi. Some return home with their families while others go out to celebrate the festival after being away for work or studies. On such days, there is a lot of crowd from the platform to other parts of the station. The challenge before the Railways is not only to run additional trains, but also to transport such a large number of passengers safely to their trains. Railways have made additional arrangements for this.
It would be better for the travelers not to delay in reaching the station. Keep getting information about which platform your train will arrive on from the display boards and announcements at the station.
How to find out whether a seat is vacant in a special train or not
If you are preparing to travel on Diwali or Chhath, then check the IRCTC website or mobile app before booking the ticket. On filling the date of journey and from where to go, you will get information about the available trains of that route. The status of vacant seats in special trains can also be seen here. After choosing the train as per your choice, you can book the ticket.
Before completing the booking, please match the train number, date of journey and boarding and de-boarding stations. Timings of special trains are sometimes different from regular trains. Therefore, before leaving home, it would be better to check the scheduled time and latest status of your train once again.