As people look forward to ring in Diwali and Chhat festivals, Northern Railways has announced special trains to ease the extra rush of passengers. Delhi division of Northern Railway, in a press release, said a total of 327 trips of special trains have been planned to connect key stations including Delhi, Anand Vihar Terminal, Danapur, Patna, Muzaffarpur, Jogbani, Saharsa, Jaynagar, Katihar, Darbhanga, Gorakhpur, Raxual, Varanasi, Gaya, Vaishno Devi Katra. 12 trips of special trains to connect New Delhi and Patna Gati Shakti Superfast Special trains will connect New Delhi and Patna from November 10 to November 17 in 12 trips. Train number 02246 New Delhi-Patna Junction Gati Shakti Superfast Special will depart from New Delhi at 11:45 pm and arrive at Patna Junction at 3.50 pm the next day. From Patna to Delhi, train number 02245 will depart at 7.00 pm and arrive in the national capital at 10.30 am, the following day. Stations: The special trains will halt at Kanpur Central, Prayagraj Junction, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhaya Junction, Buxar, Ara and Danapur stations in both directions. Four trips of special trains to connect Anand Vihar, Lucknow and Varanasi Another set of special trains will connect Anand Vihar and Lucknow during the festive days. The Gati Shakti Superfast special train, 04494, will depart from Anand Vihar Terminal at 8:30 am on November 10 and arrive at Lucknow station at 6 pm on the same day. During the return, train number 04493 will depart from Lucknow at 8:45 am on November 12 and arrive at Anand Vihar Terminal at 6: 15 pm on the same day. Stations: The trains will halt at Ghaziabad, Hapur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur and Hardoi stations. Special trains to connect Varanasi and Anand Vihar Special trains will also ply between Varanasi and Anand Vihar Terminal to prevent influx of passengers. On November 11, train number 00498 will depart from Anand Vihar Terminal at 8:30 am and arrive at Varanasi at 11:30 pm on the same day. Train number 04497 will connect passengers from Varanasi to Anand Vihar on return journey starting at 4 am and arriving at 7:10 pm on the same day. Stations: The stations the this train will touch upon along its journeyare Ghaziabad, Hapur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi , Lucknow, Sultanpur and Jaunpur City. Crowd management measures The Railways has chalked out a slew of measures to control crowd at stations such as forming queue at terminus stations under the supervision of Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff for proper entry of passengers in unreserved coaches. No change of platform at the last moment is allowed. New Delhi (NDLS), Old Delhi (DLI), Anand Vihar Terminal (ANVT) & Hazrat Nizamudin (NZM) Railway Stations will have a team of staff from all departments to control crowd and manage issues. Passenger holding areas" will be set up at New Delhi Station and Anand Vihar Terminal to avoid rush on platforms. Special security arrangements will be made at stations including deployment of about 1300 additional RPF/RPSF personnel and dog squads at New Delhi Sation, Anand Vihar Terminal, Old Delhi, Hazrat Nizamudin. Baggage scanners and metal detectors will also be there.
