The Izatnagar Railway Division is gearing up for the festive rush witnessed during Diwali and Chhath Puja.
The operations department has made necessary preparations to handle the crowd.
Three special trains are set to operate from next week, providing significant relief to travelers.
Special Trains for Convenient Travel
In an effort to ease the holiday travel for passengers, three special trains will be running soon.These trains will connect Lal Kuan to Kanpur via Farrukhabad, Lal Kuan to Bangalore, and Tanakpur to Jaipur. The operation of these trains will greatly benefit passengers.
Approval Awaited for Puja Special Trains
PRO Rajendra Singh mentioned that preparations are underway to run the special trains. While the headquarters has not yet approved the proposal,
a decision is expected next week. Once the green signal is received, the Rail Division will initiate the operation of the Puja special trains.
Special Train Schedule Details
Starting from November 5th, a special Puja train service (05023/05024) will run between Gorakhpur and Delhi until December 3rd.
Every Sunday, the train will depart from Gorakhpur, and from November 6th to December 4th, it will depart from Delhi every Monday.
The Gorakhpur-Delhi Puja special train (05023) will depart from Gorakhpur at 20:55, stopping at Khalilabad (21:33), Basti (22:03),
Gonda (23:35), Budhwal (00:42 the next day), Sitapur (03:05), Bareilly (06:20), Muradabad (08:10), and Ghaziabad (11:10) before reaching Delhi at 12:30.
The return journey (05024) from Delhi to Gorakhpur will commence at 14:30 every Monday, stopping at Ghaziabad (16:05), Muradabad (19:05), Bareilly (21:05), Sitapur (00:15 the next day), Budhwal (03:35),
Gonda (04:30), Basti (06:05), and Khalilabad (06:37) before reaching Gorakhpur at 07:30. These special trains aim to provide a convenient travel option for passengers during the festive season.
Chaos in Trains during Festive Season
During the Diwali festival, there has been a lot of chaos and crowding in the trains. Trains arriving from Delhi to Punjab on Friday experienced overwhelming crowds. Passengers were struggling to find space inside the trains, and there were incidents of pushing and shoving.
Many travelers were left hanging near the coach gates, trying to continue their journey. Similar situations were observed in most trains, prompting railway authorities to issue safety alerts, advising passengers to avoid risky travels.
Special Trains Operate Despite Crowds
Despite the heavy crowds, special trains are being operated to accommodate the festive rush. However, most passengers prefer traveling on regular express trains over special ones.
This preference often leaves seats empty in special trains, as passengers lack confidence in their punctuality and scheduled stops, leading to uncertainty about where to board or deboard.
Disruptions in Regular Train Schedules
Even the movement of freight trains is affected due to the operation of special trains. Such situations arise, causing delays for other trains reaching their destinations.
For instance, the special train (04677) traveling from Firozpur to Ambala, scheduled for 9:08 AM on Friday, arrived around 12 PM instead.
Similar overcrowding was witnessed in several trains on down lines, including routes like Avadh Assam, Jammu Tawi, and Doon, causing inconvenience for travelers.
