Good news for passengers: Indian Railways to run nearly 6,000 special trains this festive season
Train routes headed for states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal are particularly known to experience heavy traffic during these festivals. Vaishnaw said a total of 5,975 special trains have been notified so far for this year's festival season, up from 4,429 last year. "This will facilitate more than one crore passengers to go home during this puja rush," he said. Durga Puja begins on October 9, Diwali will be celebrated on October 31 while Chhath Puja will take place on November 7 and 8 this year.
Railways to tighten noose around ticketless travellers
Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry has decided to launch a special ticket-checking drive around the festive seasons to keep a check on ticketless travellers, including policemen as they are among the top violators, officials said. The Ministry, on September 20, wrote a letter to the General Managers of 17 Zones asking them to start a special drive against ticketless and unauthorised travellers "for the period October 1 to 15 and October 25 to November 10" and take suitable action as per the provisions of the Railway Act of 1989.
Railway commercial officers, who are part of the ongoing regular drive in various rail divisions, say that along with common people, policemen will also be on their radar during the festive rush as they are among the top violators. "In our recent surprise check between Ghaziabad and Kanpur, we found hundreds of policemen travelling in AC coaches of various Express and Mail trains without any ticket. When we imposed a fine on them, initially they refused to pay and threatened us with dire consequences," a railway official stated.
(With inputs from PTI)
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