Nearly 4,000 special trains would run for the upcoming festival season, minister of state (Railways) Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday. “In the next 40 days, we will celebrate the Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali and Chhath. So, we are introducing additional trains to facilitate holiday travelling between October 15 and October 30,” Sinha said.
Last year, railways had run 3,800 special trains during the festive season. The ministry was also considering canceling leave of all the employees to tackle the festive rush. “The railways will run special trains from different places to popular destinations and also add additional coaches to the existing trains. For Chhath, special services will be introduced from Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad to eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” he added.
Railways can also stop selling platform tickets in case there was a huge rush. Besides, additional reservation windows would be opened, said the MoS. “Extra security teams will be deployed at the stations to keep a check on the illegal agents and vendors,” he added.
Last year, the railways had registered 1,654 cases and taken disciplinary action against 693.
