Diwali 2026 Train Booking: Booking of train tickets for Diwali has started! See the complete calendar of 60 days rule, list of major routes and special trains.

Indian Railways has opened ticket reservation windows for lakhs of railway passengers traveling between their homes and families during the festive season. This year the main festival of Diwali will be celebrated on 8 November 2026 (Sunday), while Dhanteras starts from 6 November (Friday). Under the 60-day Advance Reservation Period (ARP) rule of the Railways, booking of general quota for Diwali week travel has started on the IRCTC portal and railway counters.

Trains going from the country’s major metros—Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kolkata—to North India (especially Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal) are seeing waiting lists getting longer within minutes of tickets opening. Railways has appealed to passengers to plan their journey in advance and reserve tickets on time to avoid ‘no room’ or excessive waiting list.

As per 60 day rule of Indian Railways, reservation window opens at 8:00 am exactly 60 days before the date of journey (except the day on which the train starts from its origin station):

Like every year, this time too the maximum crowd is being seen on the major railway sections from Delhi-NCR and Mumbai to Purvanchal and Bihar.

• Delhi – Patna / Danapur route: Sampoorna Kranti, Magadha, Shramjeevi and Purva Express.

• Delhi – Darbhanga / Muzaffarpur / Jogbani: Bihar Sampark Kranti, Vaishali Express, Swatantrata Senani Express and Seemanchal Express.

• Delhi – Varanasi / Gorakhpur: Kashi Vishwanath, Sivagangai, Gorakhdham Express and Vaishali Express.

• Mumbai / Surat – Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: Kushinagar Express, Avadh Express, Pawan Express, Bhagalpur Express and Tapti Ganga Express.

To overcome the shortage of seats in regular trains, Northern Railway, Western Railway and East Central Railway (ECR) have announced the operation of dozens of festival special trains:

• Train No. 04209/04210 (Varanasi – Delhi – Varanasi Reserved Festival Special): This train will operate three days a week for 50 trips from October to 27-28 November 2026.

• Train No. 04213/04214 (Ayodhya Cantt – Anand Vihar Terminal – Ayodhya Cantt Special): It will make a total of 36 trips between Delhi and Awadh region.

• Train No. 04512/04511 (Chandigarh – Patna Junction – Chandigarh Weekly Special): It will run for 18 trips via Ambala, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Varanasi, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Arrah.

• Train No. 04616/04615 (Firozpur Cantt – Patna Junction – Firozpur Weekly Special): For migrants from Punjab and Haryana, it will reach Patna via Ludhiana, Ambala and Varanasi (16 trips).

• Train No. 09189/09190 (Mumbai Central – Katihar – Mumbai Central Festival Special): It is being operated by Western Railway with additional trips till mid-November.

• Train No. 04008/04007 (Anand Vihar – Jogbani) and 04028/04027 (Anand Vihar – Muzaffarpur): Special trips for passengers of Seemanchal and North Bihar.

• Train No. 04010/04009 (Delhi – Sitamarhi – Delhi Weekly Special): Will provide additional capacity on Mithilanchal route.

• Train No. 04127/04128 (Kanpur Central – Guwahati Special): It will run till December with additional trips between Uttar Pradesh and North-East.

It is useful to adopt some precautions and strategies on IRCTC to get a confirmed ticket during the festive season:

1. Prepare master list in advance: Before opening of booking, enter the names, ages and seat preferences of all co-passengers in the ‘Passenger Master List’ in your IRCTC profile, so that time is not wasted in filling the form at 8:00.

2. Selection of Faster Payment Gateway: Use IRCTC e-Wallet, UPI or wallet instead of net banking to save time waiting for OTP.

3. Select ‘VIKALP’ (Option Scheme): In case of ticket waiting, choosing Vikalp scheme may result in automatically confirmed seat being allotted if there is a vacant seat in any other train or special train of the same route.

4. Option of Tatkal and Premium Tatkal: If tickets are not available in general quota, Tatkal tickets can be booked one day before the journey at 10:00 am for AC class and 11:00 am for Sleeper class.