With Durga Puja, Diwali and Chhath approaching, railway passengers across India are facing the usual rush for confirmed tickets. Regular trains on popular routes are filling up quickly, while waitlists are also increasing soon after reservations open.
To handle the expected festive-season demand, Indian Railways has planned more than 100 special train services between October and December 2026. The additional services will connect several major regions, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Apart from special trains, the Railways will also increase the number of trips on selected services and attach additional coaches to some regular trains to accommodate more passengers.
102 Special Trains Listed for the Festive Season
The Railways has released a list covering 102 special trains scheduled during the October-December period. The list includes services operating in both directions, with additional trips and newly introduced trains included.
Several new services have been announced from Prayagraj, while some existing trains will make additional trips during the festive rush. Timings for certain services have also been changed.
Passengers travelling on the Prayagraj-Shakur Basti route will get additional services. Train numbers 02417 Prayagraj-Shakur Basti and 02418 Shakur Basti-Prayagraj will operate 34 trips daily from September 11 to October 14 and 15. After that, the services will operate four days a week between October and December.
Meanwhile, 04163 Narayanpur Bazar-Shakur Basti and 04164 Shakur Basti-Narayanpur Bazar will make 27 trips each, operating three days a week from October to December.
Special Trains for Bihar and West Bengal
Several services have been planned for passengers travelling towards Bihar and West Bengal during the festive period.
The 03041 Howrah-Raxaul and 03042 Raxaul-Howrah trains will operate seven trips each from October 15-16 to November 26-27. The 03043 Howrah-Raxaul and 03044 Raxaul-Howrah services will also make seven trips each from October 17-18 to November 28-29.
The 03135 Sealdah-Patna and 03136 Patna-Sealdah trains will run seven trips each from October 13 to November 24. Similarly, 03133 Sealdah-Sitamarhi and 03134 Sitamarhi-Sealdah will operate seven trips each from October 16-17 to November 27-28.
For the Sealdah-Gorakhpur route, 03131 Sealdah-Gorakhpur and 03132 Gorakhpur-Sealdah will make 14 trips each from October 13-14 to November 26-27.
The Kolkata-Madhubani route will also receive additional services. 03185 Kolkata-Madhubani and 03186 Madhubani-Kolkata will run seven trips each from October 13-14 to November 24-25. Another pair, 03187 Kolkata-Madhubani and 03188 Madhubani-Kolkata, will make seven trips each from October 16-17 to November 27-28.
Other services include 03511 Asansol-Patna and 03512 Patna-Asansol, which will operate seven trips each from October 18 to November 29. The 03527 Asansol-Gorakhpur and 03528 Gorakhpur-Asansol services will also make seven trips each from October 16-17 to November 27-28.
The 03465 Malda Town-Digha and 03466 Digha-Malda Town trains will operate seven trips each from October 17-18 to November 28-29.
The 03005 Howrah-Lumding and 03006 Lumding-Howrah services will make seven trips each from October 16-17 to November 27-28. These trains will include general, sleeper and AC coaches.
On weekends, 03129 Kolkata-New Jalpaiguri and 03130 New Jalpaiguri-Kolkata will operate 14 trips each from October 17-18 to November 29-30, with general, sleeper and AC coaches.
The 05060 Lalkuan-Kolkata and 05059 Kolkata-Lalkuan trains will make eight trips each from October 8-10 to November 26-28, with stops at various stations in both directions.
Additional Services for Northeast, South and Other Routes
The Railways has also arranged additional services for passengers travelling towards the Northeast. 08047 Santragachi-Naharlagun will make three additional trips on September 11, 18 and 25, while 08048 Naharlagun-Santragachi will operate three additional trips on September 12, 19 and 26.
The 04127 Kanpur Central-Guwahati and 04128 Guwahati-Kanpur Central services will have 14 additional trips each from September 10-11 to December 10-11.
Meanwhile, 05932 Dibrugarh-Kolkata and 05931 Kolkata-Dibrugarh will operate 13 additional trips each from September 5-7 to November 28-30. These trains will have 22 coaches.
The 05736 Katihar-Amritsar and 05735 Amritsar-Katihar services will make 12 additional trips each from September 9-11 to November 25-27.
Additional services have also been planned for Mumbai, southern India and Andhra Pradesh. 09189 Mumbai Central-Katihar and 09190 Katihar-Mumbai Central will operate seven additional trips each, with service dates specified.
The 03407 Bhagalpur-Katihar and 03408 Katihar-Bhagalpur trains will run daily from August 29 to November 30, with 94 extended trips in each direction.
On the Visakhapatnam-SMVT Bengaluru route, 08581 Visakhapatnam-SMVT Bengaluru and 08582 SMVT Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam will make nine additional trips each from October 2-3 to November 27-28. These services will include AC, sleeper and general coaches.
The 08045 Shalimar-Charlapalli and 08046 Charlapalli-Shalimar trains will also make nine additional trips each from October 2-3 to November 27-28, with 24 coaches comprising AC, sleeper and general classes.
South Central Railway will operate the 07035 Secunderabad-Sirpur Kaghaznagar Festival Rush Special and 07036 Sirpur Kaghaznagar-Hyderabad Deccan services according to their specified departure and arrival timings.
The 04008 Anand Vihar Terminal-Jogbani and 04007 Jogbani-Anand Vihar Terminal trains will make five trips each from October 10-11 to November 7-8, covering various cities along the route.
The 07097 Hyderabad-Mangaluru Central and 07098 Mangaluru Central-Hyderabad services will have 12 additional trips each from September 9-10 to November 25-26.
The 04131 Kanpur Central-SMVT Bengaluru service will operate every Sunday, making seven trips from October 4 to November 15. In the opposite direction, 04132 SMVT Bengaluru-Kanpur Central will run every Wednesday, with seven trips from October 7 to November 18. Both trains will have 23 coaches, including AC 2-tier, AC 3-tier, sleeper and general coaches.
The 08311 Sambalpur-Podanur train will run every Wednesday from September 9 to November 25, making 12 trips. The 08312 Podanur-Sambalpur service will operate every Friday from September 11 to November 27, also making 12 trips.
For passengers travelling between Kanpur and Madurai, 01925 Kanpur Central-Madurai will run every Wednesday with 13 trips from September 2 to November 25. The return service, 01926 Madurai-Kanpur Central, will operate every Saturday with 13 trips from September 5 to November 28. Existing timings and stoppages will remain applicable.
Similarly, 09424 Ahmedabad-Mangaluru Junction will operate every Friday from September 4 to November 27, completing 13 trips. 09423 Mangaluru Junction-Ahmedabad will run every Saturday from September 5 to November 28, also making 13 trips. Existing timings and stoppages will continue for these services.