Guwahati: In preparation for the festive season, the General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Chetan Kumar Shrivastava, announced an extensive set of measures to ensure smooth and comfortable travel for passengers during Durga Puja, Diwali, and Chhath Puja.
Addressing the media at Guwahati Railway Station on Tuesday, Shrivastava revealed that Indian Railways has launched 12,011 special trains across the country — a significant rise from 7,724 trains operated during the same period last year.
Within the NFR zone, 48 special festival trains will run 620 trips between September and December 2025 across various routes to ease passenger congestion and facilitate travel to key destinations.
To enhance passenger convenience, special arrangements have been introduced at major stations including Katihar, New Jalpaiguri, Guwahati, Jogbani, and Kishanganj. These include dedicated waiting zones, additional ticket counters, automatic ticket vending machines, improved announcements, and extra fans.
Round-the-clock war rooms have been set up for real-time monitoring, with increased deployment of Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and support staff for safety and crowd control.
Highlighting the festival train schedule, Shrivastava mentioned several important services such as:
• Dibrugarh–Gorakhpur Weekly Special (05978): Departs Dibrugarh 09:10 hrs; arrives Gorakhpur 19:00 hrs.
• Katihar–Amritsar Weekly Special (05736): Departs Katihar 21:00 hrs; arrives Amritsar 09:45 hrs.
• Katihar–Dauram Madhepura Daily Special (07541/07542): Departs Katihar 19:00 hrs; returns 22:45 hrs.
• Katihar–Manihari Daily Special (07540/07539): Departs Katihar 20:30 hrs; returns 05:00 hrs.
Special trains are also being operated to Agartala, Dibrugarh, Patna, Kolkata, Ranchi, Howrah, Mumbai Central, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Silchar, Naharlagun, and Kamakhya.
Shrivastava urged passengers to plan their travel in advance and cooperate with railway authorities to ensure a safe, comfortable, and hassle-free journey during the festive season.
