National: With the festive season around the corner, Indian Railways has announced plans to operate nearly 6,000 special trains to accommodate over one crore passengers travelling for Durga Puja, Diwali, and Chhath festivals. Speaking to the media, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared the details and revealed that extra arrangements have been made to handle the surge in demand during this period. In addition to the special trains, 108 regular trains have been fitted with additional general coaches, and 12,500 coaches have been sanctioned to manage the increased passenger load, he added. 

Train routes headed for states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal are particularly known to experience heavy traffic during these festivals. Vaishnaw said a total of 5,975 special trains have been notified so far for this year's festival season, up from 4,429 last year. "This will facilitate more than one crore passengers to go home during this puja rush," he said. Durga Puja begins on October 9, Diwali will be celebrated on October 31 while Chhath Puja will take place on November 7 and 8 this year.

Railways to tighten noose around ticketless travellers

Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry has decided to launch a special ticket-checking drive around the festive seasons to keep a check on ticketless travellers, including policemen as they are among the top violators, officials said. The Ministry, on September 20, wrote a letter to the General Managers of 17 Zones asking them to start a special drive against ticketless and unauthorised travellers "for the period October 1 to 15 and October 25 to November 10" and take suitable action as per the provisions of the Railway Act of 1989.

Railway commercial officers, who are part of the ongoing regular drive in various rail divisions, say that along with common people, policemen will also be on their radar during the festive rush as they are among the top violators. "In our recent surprise check between Ghaziabad and Kanpur, we found hundreds of policemen travelling in AC coaches of various Express and Mail trains without any ticket. When we imposed a fine on them, initially they refused to pay and threatened us with dire consequences," a railway official stated.