Chhath Puja travel: Indian Railways launches special trains ahead of festival

Two special trains departed from Asansol railway station in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district on Sunday, carrying thousands of people travelling to Patna and Gorakhpur for the Chhath Puja festival, officials said.
The Indian Railways has made special arrangements for passengers travelling back to their hometowns in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during this festive season.
A passenger traveling to Bihar lauded the initiative, saying, “This is a very good initiative by the Railways for the people who will be traveling on the occasion of Chhath Puja.”
Another passenger noted that the trains were clean and expressed satisfaction with the arrangements, saying, “I am going back home for Chhath Puja. The train arrangements made are very good, and we are very happy that this step was taken by the government.”
“This has become a significant benefit for people traveling home during this occasion. We are very happy with the arrangements made,” added another passenger.
Indian Railways on Friday announced that they would run special trains across the country to ensure passengers can travel safely to their hometowns for Chhath Puja.
Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information and Publicity for the Railway Board, said that Indian Railways operated more than 160 trains on Thursday and planned to run over 170 trains on Sunday.
Kumar said that special arrangements have been made at all major stations, including New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Mumbai, Bandra, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
“The special arrangements are for people travelling to their hometowns during Chhath Puja. We are running various trains to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to accommodate the rush. Yesterday, we ran more than 160 trains, and today we plan to run over 170 trains. Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railways Protection Force (RPF) staff have been deployed to manage the crowd, and Rail Sewaks are available to assist travelers with any questions,” he said.
Additional coaches have been added to the special trains, and hundreds of CCTV cameras have been installed at the stations to monitor the movement of people.
“Tickets can be booked through both online and offline systems. Those unable to obtain confirmed tickets can access unreserved seats. We have restricted unnecessary movement of travellers, and Rail Sewaks are on hand to assist senior and physically challenged citizens,” Kumar added.
Chhath is a significant festival primarily celebrated in the northern and eastern parts of India, including Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.