The Northern Railway Zone on Monday said it has implemented a robust action plan this festive season to provide passengers with a comfortable journey and accommodate the surge in demand with 2,950 special trains.

The zone said it has achieved about 172 per cent jump in the number of festival-special trains running from October 1 to 30, compared to last year.

Speaking about the arrangements, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer, Northern Railway, said, "Out of 2,950 trains, around 83 per cent festival specials will cater to the passengers of east-bound states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Assam, among others."

"The towns or cities such as Barauni, Samastipur, Saharsa, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Jainagar, Darbhanga, Jogbani, Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati, Howrah, Muzaffarpur, Katihar, Tatanagar, and Lucknow are some of the popular destinations of these special trains originating from the National Capital Region," Upadhyay added.

The officer also mentioned various steps to enhance passenger safety and facilities such as strict measures to prevent unauthorised entry into reserved coaches, curbs on carrying inflammable materials, and steps to check smoking and littering in trains and on the station premises.

The Northern Railway, in a statement, said, "It may be noted that Northern Railway in association with other zonal railways is operating more than 2,950 Festival special trains during the festival season from 01.10.2024 to 30.11.2024."

"Last year in the corresponding period a total number of 1,082 specials were arranged by Northern Railway, hence this year, there will be an increase of approximately 172 per cent in comparison to last year," it added in the release issued today.

According to Upadhyay, the Northern Railway would also run unreserved special trains to clear the extra rush in case of need on a real-time basis. "A total of 52 extra coaches are being added to various trains, making 2,740 trips and accommodating over 2.06 lakh passengers during the festive period," the railway press release said.

According to Upadhyay, other amenities taken by Northern Railway amid the festive rush include increased deployment of ticket checking staff and RPF personnel to manage crowds on foot-over bridges, entry and exit points, platforms, booking offices, and other areas.