Major relief for passengers during the festive season; festival special trains to run from October 15.
Uttar Pradesh: In view of the increasing crowd of passengers in trains during the festive season, Railways has started preparing for additional facilities. Many special trains will be operated to easily transport passengers to their destinations during festivals. In this sequence, operation of the festival special train between Khajuraho and Rundhi will be started from October 15. Apart from this, there are preparations to run daily trains from Gorakhpur to Mumbai and Hadapsar via Lucknow.
Necessary preparations are being made by the Railways before the operation of Khajuraho-Rundhi Festival Special train. On Saturday, Principal Chief Commercial Manager of North Central Railway, Bijendra Kumar inspected Rundhi Railway Station. During the inspection, the arrangements available for the passengers at the station and the preparations related to the operation of the Festival Special train were reviewed.
During festivals, the number of passengers in trains increases significantly compared to normal days. A large number of people prefer rail travel to their homes. In such a situation, as the demand for seats in regular trains increases, the crowd also increases. Keeping this in mind, special trains are being operated by the Railways.
Festival special train between Khajuraho and Rundhi will be available for passengers from October 15. With the introduction of this train, people traveling on the concerned route will get an additional option during festivals. Railway officials are inspecting the arrangements at the station level regarding preparations for the operation of the special train.
North Central Railway along with North Eastern Railway and other zones have also taken several steps keeping in mind the convenience of passengers during the festive season. Arrangements are being made to operate additional trains on different routes, so that the pressure of passengers on regular trains can be reduced.
Daily trains will run from Gorakhpur to Mumbai and Hadapsar via Lucknow. This is expected to provide special relief to passengers traveling from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai. Due to increase in passenger numbers on this route during festivals, the additional trains will increase travel options.
A special train will also run between Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Gorakhpur. The operation of this train from Mumbai will start from October 16 and will run till November 16. Whereas the special train from Gorakhpur will be operated from October 18 to November 18. In this way, passengers will get the benefit of this special train service for about a month.
The special train running from Mumbai will leave from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 10:30 pm. This train will reach Lucknow at 4:05 am via its scheduled route. From Lucknow the train will go towards Gorakhpur. This will provide additional convenience to people traveling between Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh during the festive season.
On return, the special train will leave from Gorakhpur at 2:30 pm. This train will reach Lucknow at 7:45 pm and then proceed towards Mumbai. With this timetable, Lucknow passengers will also have the option of additional trains to travel in both directions, Mumbai and Gorakhpur.
During festivals, a large number of people return to their homes from cities for work, business and studies. After this, after the festival is over, the crowd going back to the workplace also increases in the trains. Due to this, Railways has to face pressure from passengers in both directions. The purpose of operating special trains is to handle this additional crowd.
The number of passengers from a big city like Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh increases during festivals. The running of Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-Gorakhpur special train for about a month will provide passengers an additional option apart from regular trains. With the operation of the train via Lucknow, passengers of the capital and surrounding areas will also be able to benefit from it.
Similarly, the festival special train between Khajuraho-Rundhi starting from October 15 will prove to be important for the passengers of the concerned area. Before its operation, the preparations are being tested by the Railways by inspecting the Rundhi station.
In view of the festive season, the number of passengers at railway stations is likely to increase. In such a situation, along with the operation of trains, it is also important to maintain the smooth functioning of passenger related facilities at the station. In this sequence, the preparations are being inspected by the officials.
Through festival special trains, Railways’ effort is to reduce the increasing crowd in regular trains and provide additional travel options to the passengers. These special services will be important in view of the increase in the number of homebound and return passengers during the festive season in October and November.
With the commencement of Khajuraho-Rundhi Festival Special from October 15, passengers will get the benefit of special train services on different routes in the coming days. Whereas Mumbai-Gorakhpur special train will start from Mumbai from 16th October and from Gorakhpur from 18th October. These services are expected to provide additional options to rail passengers amidst the crowd during the festive season.