Railways is surprising its travellers with its new announcement. On Tuesday, it announced that it will start 392 festival special trains between October 20 and November 30 in view of the forthcoming festive season. It also said the fares of these trains will be similar to those applicable for special trains, which means 'special charges' will be charged making the tickets more expensive by 10-30 percent as compared to the fares of mail/express trains, depending on the class of travel.
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The judgment was taken as the national transporter is expecting a passenger rush during the upcoming festive season, the Railway Ministry said in a statement. The special trains will be run for destinations such as Kolkata, Patna, Varanasi, Lucknow among others to cater to the growing demand during the ensuing holiday period of Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali and Chhatt puja, it said. Till now, the railways have pressed into service 666 mail/express special trains which are now running regularly across the country. Additionally, some suburban services are also being operated in Mumbai as well as certain services of the Kolkata Metro.
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These new festival special trains, however, will operate only till November 30 and will not have a continued run, officials said. In an order issued on Tuesday, the Railway Board told that these festival special trains will be operated at a speed of 55 kmph. The Railways has suspended all its regular services due to the coronavirus pandemic since March and is operating trains as per demand and necessity. From May 12, Railways started operating limited special trains to help stranded people across the country to reach their homes in different states.
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