Northern Railway Special Trains: Diwali & Chhath Puja 2026

To manage the massive surge of passengers expected during the upcoming festive season, Northern Railway has announced an extensive schedule of festival special trains for Diwali and Chhath Puja 2026. This initiative is part of a much larger nationwide effort by Indian Railways, which aims to operate over 12,000 special train trips between October 1 and November 30, 2026.

The comprehensive network includes 11,865 total trips, consisting of 9,338 reserved services and 2,203 unreserved services. This significant increase in capacity is designed to provide smoother travel for devotees and families heading home during the holidays.

Major Routes and Special Train Services

The special operations will focus on key corridors connecting major pilgrimage and urban hubs such as Varanasi, Ayodhya, Delhi, Chandigarh, Patna, and Vaishno Devi. Below are the highlights of the announced services:

• Varanasi-Delhi Festival Special Express (04209/04210): This service will complete 50 trips and will feature a mix of AC 2-tier, AC 3-tier, sleeper, and general coaches.
• Ayodhya Cantt-Anand Vihar Special (04213/04214): A total of 36 trips will be operated between October 1 and November 30.
• New Delhi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Special (04081/04082): This will operate as a daily service from October 12 to October 26.
• Chandigarh-Patna (04512/04511) and Firozpur Cantt-Patna (04616/04615): These services provide vital regional connectivity, passing through major stations including Ambala Cantt., Saharanpur, Roorkee, Moradabad, and Varanasi.