Northern Railway is operating extensive festival special train services to accommodate the heavy passenger influx during the upcoming Dussehra, Diwali, and Chhath Puja season. Travellers can now plan their journeys more conveniently as massive operational arrangements are put in place across the network. Northern Railway is deploying approximately 2,950 festival special trains between October 1 and November 30, 2026. This initiative includes 1,000 extra festival trains across the network with over 4,700 total trips currently operational to ease the festive rush. More than 1.7 lakh additional seats have been made available for travelers, with 83% of these services dedicated to passengers heading toward Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
The festive special services cover several crucial routes, especially impacting the Varanasi region to facilitate seamless travel.
The Firozpur Cantt-Patna Junction Festival Special Express (04616/04615) operates from October 6 to November 25, with train 04616 passing through Varanasi Junction at 12:40 PM. Additionally,
the Varanasi-Delhi Special (04209/04210) runs from October 2 to November 29, and
the Varanasi-Chandigarh Festival Special (04227/04228) is scheduled from October 1 to November 30. Furthermore,
the Prayagraj-Dadri Superfast Special (04163) has been extended to Narayanpur Bazaar near Varanasi from October 17 to December 15 to assist passengers traveling to Mirzapur, Chunari, and Vindhyachal.
The entire festive operation is being closely overseen by
Northern Railway General Manager Ashok Kumar Verma, along with Lucknow Division Senior DCM Samarth Gupta and Moradabad Rail Division Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Mahesh Yadav. To ensure passenger safety and effective crowd control at major railway stations,
2,100 Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel are being deployed. Additional administrative measures include
the suspension of platform ticket sales, the temporary closure of parcel offices, and the establishment of a 24/7 dedicated control room to continuously monitor train traffic during the peak festive period.
