Indian Railways deploys 89 special trains as IndiGo flight disruptions cause travel rush
Indian Railways on Saturday announced 89 special train services, covering more than 100 trips over the next three days, to handle the sudden surge in passenger traffic caused by widespread IndiGo flight cancellations and the seasonal winter rush. The services, which started on December 6, span multiple railway zones and are aimed at easing travel pressure in major cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Howrah and Hyderabad.
Central Railway will run 14 special services connecting Pune, Bengaluru, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Madgaon, Lucknow, Nagpur, Gorakhpur and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. These trains will operate between December 6 and 12, depending on schedules.
South Eastern Railway has announced services linking Santragachi with Yelahanka, Howrah with Mumbai’s CSMT, and Cherlapalli with Shalimar. The trains are scheduled to run between December 6 and 9.
To manage the sudden rush, South Central Railway operated three special trains on December 6 from Cherlapalli to Shalimar, Secunderabad to Chennai Egmore, and Hyderabad to Mumbai LTT.
Eastern Railway is running special services between Howrah, New Delhi, Sealdah and Mumbai. These will operate through December 6 to 9.
Western Railway has planned seven special trains, including services between Mumbai Central and Bhiwani, Mumbai Central and Shakur Basti, and Bandra Terminus and Durgapura. These trains will run multiple trips across December, with bookings already open.
Additional services have been scheduled from Gorakhpur, with trains operating to Anand Vihar Terminal and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus on specific dates between December 7 and 9.
To accommodate winter travellers from Bihar, East Central Railway will operate trains from Patna and Darbhanga to Anand Vihar Terminal. These will run between December 6 and 9.
North Western Railway has scheduled one-time special fare trains between Hisar and Khadki, and between Durgapura and Bandra Terminus on December 7 and 8.
North Central Railway will operate special trains between Prayagraj and New Delhi on December 6, 7, 8 and 9.
Northern Railway will run the New Delhi–Udhampur Vande Bharat service on December 6. It will also operate special trains linking New Delhi with Mumbai Central, Thiruvananthapuram Central and other destinations. Additionally, train services between Chalipalli and Jalimar under South Central Railway will operate on December 7.
A special train between Durg and Hazrat Nizamuddin will run on December 7, with the return journey scheduled for December 8.
The Railway Ministry said that the additional services are intended to ensure uninterrupted travel and meet the rise in demand following the disruptions in air travel.
