The Indian Railways will operate more than 300 special trains to manage passenger rush during the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri and over 100 special trains for the Onam festival in Kerala, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced.
The move comes as the railways gear up for two of the year’s biggest festival travel seasons, with the Puri Rath Yatra scheduled to begin on July 16 and Onam celebrations falling next month. Vaishnaw made the announcement during a visit to Odisha, where he also flagged off two new train services aimed at improving rail connectivity in the state.
New trains flagged off in Odisha
During his visit, the minister flagged off the Puri-Koraput Express and the Brahmapur-Udhna Amrit Bharat Express, both of which will run on a daily basis. He also reviewed preparations at Puri railway station, inspecting crowd management arrangements, passenger movement plans and overall operational readiness ahead of the Rath Yatra. As part of the preparations, a holding area capable of accommodating more than 30,000 devotees is being built at the station.
The 300-plus special trains for Rath Yatra will run in addition to the more than 800 regular trains already serving the route, the minister said, adding that the railways would run over 100 special trains for Onam in Kerala this year.
Last year’s operations
The scale of this year’s plan builds on last year’s effort, when the East Coast Railway ran 365 special trains beyond its regular schedule to handle the Rath Yatra crowd. Those trains connected Puri to numerous towns and cities across the region, including Rourkela, Sambalpur, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar’s neighbouring junctions, Berhampur, Jagdalpur, Rayagada, Bhadrak, Kendujhar and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, besides Gondia in Chhattisgarh and Santragachhi in West Bengal.
Extra coaches added to regular trains
Alongside the special train services, the East Coast Railway has also announced temporary coach augmentation on several existing trains through July to create additional berths for passengers on high-demand routes.
Among the trains getting extra coaches is the Bhubaneswar-KSR Bengaluru Prashanti Express, which will carry one additional AC Three-Tier coach through the month, with its return service getting the same addition a day later. The Bhubaneswar-Anand Vihar Terminal Odisha Sampark Kranti Express and its return service will also run with an extra AC Three-Tier coach, as will the Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express and its return leg.
The Sambalpur-Rayagada Express and its return service will get an additional AC Chair Car coach through July, a change mirrored on the Puri-Gunupur Express route. The Sambalpur-Shalimar Express will run with an extra Sleeper Class coach on nominated days, while the Bhubaneswar-Puruna Katak Superfast Express and its return Intercity service will each carry two additional General Second Class coaches through the month.
Connectivity push beyond Odisha
The railway ministry has also used the occasion to highlight other connectivity initiatives, including new services intended to benefit the Sikh community in the Terai regions of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with routes linking Nanded and Mumbai. Officials said passenger demand for stoppages at certain points along these new routes would be examined in the coming days.