Indian Railways is taking major steps to ensure smooth travel during the upcoming holiday season by introducing 13 pairs of festive special trains offering a total of 282 additional trips. These special services are designed to accommodate the heavy passenger rush during major festivals like Durga Puja, Diwali, and Chhath Puja, operating from October 1 to December 1, 2026. Bookings for these special trains officially started on September 19, 2026, and passengers can easily reserve their tickets through the IRCTC website and mobile app with an advance reservation period of up to 60 days. The operations are being closely coordinated by regional zones like the North Central Railway to connect major hubs seamlessly.
These special services will connect busy travel hubs such as New Delhi, Anand Vihar Terminal, Yog Nagari Rishikesh, Varanasi, Amritsar, and Sultanpur with high-demand destinations including Supaul, Bhagalpur, Kolkata, Muzaffarpur, Barauni, and Mumbai. Among the prominent routes, the
New Delhi-Supaul-New Delhi special will run a massive 118 trips, with train number 04072 leaving New Delhi at 9:35 PM and train number 04071 departing Supaul at 7:45 AM. Similarly, the
Anand Vihar Terminal-Bhagalpur-Anand Vihar special will operate 94 trips, featuring train number 04062 departing Anand Vihar at 12:00 PM and train number 04061 departing Bhagalpur at 4:30 PM. Furthermore,
18 trips are dedicated to the New Delhi-Howrah-New Delhi route, where train number 04052 departs New Delhi at 6:15 PM and train number 04051 leaves Howrah at 1:40 AM.
To further tackle the massive festive rush and reduce long waiting lists, Indian Railways is attaching extra coaches to regular trains to boost overall seating capacity. Railway authorities have also assured that robust crowd management protocols will be deployed across major railway stations throughout the peak travel period to maintain safety and order.
