Railways likely to run special trains ahead of Durga Puja

Kolkata: With Durga Puja a month away, Eastern Railway is mulling to run over 10 additional special trains.

"We are planning to run more trains in places where there is more demand. Nothing has been finalized yet," said a senior official. However, the Howrah- New Delhi special train that runs along the same route as the Poorva Express will run four times a week from Sunday. At present, the special train runs once a week via Gaya and through Patna on the other day. From Sunday, the train will run twice a week via Gaya and on two days through Patna.

The frequency of 02303/02304 Howrah – New Delhi special (via Patna) and 02381/02382 Howrah – New Delhi special (via Dhanbad) will be increased from weekly to bi-weekly. 02381 Howrah – New Delhi special (via Dhanbad) will leave on every Sunday and Thursday from Howrah with effect from September 27 and 02382 New Delhi – Howrah special (via Dhanbad) will leave on every Monday and Friday from New Delhi with effect from September 28. 02303 Howrah – New Delhi special (via Patna) will leave on every Tuesday and Saturday from Howrah with from September 29 and 02304 New Delhi – Howrah special (via Patna) will leave on every Wednesday and Sunday from New Delhi with effect from September 30. The booking of the increased days will be available from September 24.

According to sources, Eastern Railway is likely to run 10 additional special trains covering tourist spots (Darjeeling and other places) from mid October. These trains will earn around Rs 23 crore revenue.

At present, Eastern Railway is running 16 special trains from Howrah, Sealdah and Shalimar station, including 02377 Sealdah – New Alipurduar special train, 02378 New Alipurduar – Sealdah special train, 02357 Kolkata – Amritsar bi-weekly special train, 02358 Amritsar – Kolkata bi-weekly special train, 02023 Howrah – Patna special train and 02024 Patna – Howrah special train.