800 trains to be deployed to meet Diwali And Chhath rush

By Arun Kumar Das

New Delhi, Oct 11 (BVI): Catering to the festive rush, Indian Railways will press nearly 800 trains into service to make about 12,000 trips across the country during the upcoming Diwali and Chhat festivals.

Till now, 763 trains have been notified to carry out 10,782 trips to meet the growing demand during the Chhath and Diwali festival this time.

“We are ready to make about 12,000 trips, a record in itself, during the ensuing festival period to facilitate passengers to travel to their homes to celebrate Diwali and Chhath,” said a senior Railway Ministry official.

There were about 8000 trips made during this period last year and this year it is expected to increase to about 12,000 as per the bookings trend.

More and more people are willing to travel during this time and the Railways will have to make as many trains operational to meet the increasing demand, the official added.

All zones have geared up to press maximum trains into service to clear the rush.

While north-bound trains to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand are expected to have heavy demands for Chhat passengers, Eastern bound trains particularly to West Bengal are expected to carry Diwali passengers.

According to the Railways, the Northern Zone will make 1925 trips followed by 1324 trips by the East Central Zone and 1198 trips by Western Zone.

South Central Zone has 108 trains to make 1015 trips during the festival period.

These are special trains and the fare structure of these services are also different from the normal train fare.  (BVI)