Railways to run 392 'Festive Special' trains from Oct 20

New Delhi: The Indian Railways will run 392 'Festive Special' trains across its zones between October 20 and November 30. As in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic, the regular train operations have been suspended, the ministry decided to run these special trains for the better passenger service during festival time.

Accordingly, the ticket fare will be as per the Commercial Circular No 30 OF 2015, which mentions the addition of 'special charges' with the basic ticket fare upto 30 per cent. Hence, for Sleeper Class, the ticket charges will be higher at minimum Rs 90 to Rs 175 maximum, followed by minimum Rs 300 to a maximum of Rs 400 for both the 2AC and 1AC.

Earlier, the Millennium Post reported that rail ministry has decided to run a minimum of 200 trains across the country from October 15 to November 30. While speaking, the CEO of Rail Board Vinod Kumar Yadav also asserted that the list of trains would be finalized after the ministry gets a detailed report from all the GMs of different zones.

In the last week, after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) declared the new Unlock guidelines and allowed more economic activities, the ministry approved 39 special trains and 80 special trains in September with Unlock 4.0 guidelines.

In an important move, the Centre also had declared the operation of clone trains in September, which are responding with 60 per cent of occupancy, the Rail Board chairman mentioned. Accordingly, ticket booking facility will be available both online (via IRCTC website) and on PRS ticket counters for the new special trains. However, the ministry is yet to announce the date, when the ticket booking will start.

These special trains will run for destinations such as Kolkata, Patna, Varanasi and Lucknow among others at 55 kmph to cater to the demand during Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali and Chhath Puja.