Big news for those going home on Chhath festival: 31 special trains will run from Delhi today, arrangements for 29 tomorrow also; View routes and schedules

Indian Railways has made a big announcement of relief for lakhs of passengers going to their villages on the occasion of Chhath Puja, the great festival of folk faith. Immediately after Diwali, Northern Railway has increased the operation of trains on a war footing to control the huge crowd gathering at the railway stations of the capital Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) and to provide safe and easy travel to every migrant. According to the official operational bulletin issued by the Railways, a total of 31 special trains are being dispatched from the major railway terminals of Delhi today, while strong arrangements have been made for the smooth operation of 29 additional special trains tomorrow also. In these two days, a total of 60 special trains will run from the capital to various districts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, which will provide huge relief to the passengers troubled by not getting confirmed tickets in regular trains.

The maximum pressure is being seen on the major travel corridors going from Delhi-NCR to Purvanchal. Keeping this in mind, Railways has distributed the departure points of trains in a planned manner so that there is no stampede or chaos at any one station:

• Anand Vihar Terminal (ANVT): From Anand Vihar, which has become the main hub of trains for Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, maximum number of trains are being flagged off for Patna, Muzaffarpur, Danapur, Bhagalpur, Jaynagar and Jogbani.

• New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS): Superfast and Gati Shakti clone special trains are leaving from New Delhi for Darbhanga, Saharsa, Gaya, Samastipur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur.

• Old Delhi Railway Station (DLI): From here, operation of unreserved (General/Unreserved) and sleeper special trains has been scheduled for Chhapra, Siwan, Katihar, Raxaul and Sitamarhi.

• Hazrat Nizamuddin and Delhi Sarai Rohilla: Many long distance special trains from these stations have also been diverted and terminated in the direction of Purvanchal through connecting routes.

During the Chhath festival, the biggest challenge is faced by those lakhs of daily wage workers, unorganized sector workers and students who are not able to make reservations months in advance. Railway administration has paid special attention to non-reserved categories in its strategy this time:

1. Fully Unreserved Special Trains: Out of the 60 special trains running today and tomorrow, more than 18 trains are being run in ‘Jansadharan Special’ format, in which all the coaches are of Second Class General Class. Passengers can travel by purchasing ordinary tickets from the general counter or from the UTS on mobile app.

2. Extra coaches in regular trains: Additional coaches (General and Sleeper Coaches) have been added to the regular superfast, mail and express trains on the Delhi to Bihar route so that waiting list passengers can get confirmed seats.

3. Mega Holding Area and Queue System: Temporary ‘passenger holding areas’ with a seating capacity of thousands of passengers have been set up outside the platforms at New Delhi and Anand Vihar stations. To board the general coaches, passengers are being made to sit inside the coaches in a systematic manner by forming queues under the supervision of RPF, due to which the incidents of pushing and hanging at the gate have been completely stopped.

Over 5,000 additional personnel of Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP) and Delhi Police have been deployed to prevent any untoward incident, stampede or theft during the festive rush:

• 24×7 monitoring from control room: The crowd density is being monitored every second from the Central War Room through more than 400 high-definition face-recognition CCTV cameras installed at every nook and corner of the stations.

• Strict policy of not changing the platform at the last moment: Often, changing the platform of a train at the last moment creates panic among the passengers. Northern Railway has issued clear guidelines that the platform number of special trains will be decided at least 4 hours before departure and no change in platform will be made without any emergency.

• One-way movement on foot overbridge (FOB): One-way traffic has been implemented on bridges to keep crowding at stations one-way. Only passengers arriving at the train departure time are being allowed to reach the respective platforms.

• Medical aid and pure drinking water: Round-the-clock teams of doctors, paramedics, life-support ambulances and free ORS and mineral water dispensers have been arranged at every major station.

If you too are planning to leave for your native village from Delhi today or tomorrow, then you can make your journey easier by following these important tips:

• Reach the station on time: Try to reach the station at least 2 to 2.5 hours before the train departure time to avoid security checks and the queuing system in the holding area.

• Use of ‘National Train Inquiry System’ (NTES): To confirm live running status and departure platform of special trains, use Railways’ official app NTES or 139 helpline.

• Buy digital ticket from UTS app: To avoid long queues at normal ticket counters at the station, download Railways’ ‘UTS on Mobile’ app on your smartphone and book paperless tickets from within a radius of 20 meters to 5 kilometers of the station.

• Be cautious of unknown persons: Gangs involved in poisoning and stealing goods remain active in the festive crowd. Do not take food items from any unknown person and always keep your valuables safe in front of your eyes.

This comprehensive and war-level arrangement of the Railways will ensure that every foreigner traveling from Delhi to his home to participate in the holy festival of Chhath reaches his native land on time and can celebrate this great festival of Surya worship with his family with full devotion and joy.