New Delhi: In response to the ongoing crisis caused by the mass cancellation of IndiGo flights and soaring airfares, the Indian Railways has mobilized additional resources to help stranded passengers. As thousands of people flock to nearby railway stations to continue their journeys, the Railways has started adding extra coaches to trains and scheduling special services to ease the burden.
On Friday, the Railways introduced 116 additional coaches on 37 trains to increase capacity and accommodate more passengers. Additionally, six special trains were announced to operate over the next two days, with more to follow soon. According to officials, further measures are being implemented to transport an additional 35,000 passengers daily across various routes.
Sources revealed that around 30 new special trains, each with 18 coaches, will be put into service in the coming days, with the potential to carry over 30,000 passengers per trip. Strategies are also being devised to handle the transport of over 2 million additional passengers over the next 10 days to tackle the ongoing crisis.
Southern Railways has responded by adding extra chair car and sleeper class coaches to 18 high-demand trains. Northern Railways has increased capacity by adding 3AC and CC coaches to eight trains, while Western Railways has augmented four high-demand trains with 3AC and 2AC coaches.
“Additional coaches are being deployed to ensure that travelers are not stranded,” said Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Northern Railway.
East Central Railway has also increased capacity on the Rajendra Nagar-New Delhi service by adding 2AC coaches over five trips between December 6 and 10. East Coast Railway has boosted capacity on Bhubaneswar-New Delhi services, while Northeast Frontier Railway has added 3AC and Sleeper coaches on two key trains for eight trips each, from December 6 to 13.
