Gearing up to meet the festival rush, Railways has decided to run 392 festival special trains from Wednesday. The Ministry of Railways has approved the proposals of various zones, which had sought 196 pairs of festival special trains. The trains will operate till 30 November. The fare for these services will be the same as charged for the special trains. 

The Ministry of Railways in a statement has said that 196 pairs (392 trains) to clear the festival rush would be made operational from 20th October to 30th November 2020. “The fare for these Festival Special services shall be that applicable for special trains. Zonal Railways will notify their schedule well in advance, the Ministry has announced.

The tickets for these special trains will be costlier by 10-30 percent as compared to the fares of mail/express trains, depending on the class of travel.

The special trains will run on major routes, covering Kolkata, Patna, Varanasi, Lucknow and others to cater the growing demand during the ensuing holiday period of Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali and Chhatt Puja.

In an order issued, the Railways Board said these festival special trains will be operated at a speed of 55kmph.