Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday visited the New Delhi Railway Station to conduct an on-ground assessment of the arrangements made by the Railways for rush during the festive season.
Indian Railways is operating 12,011 special trains during the festive season — a significant increase from 7,724 trains in 2024 — to meet the sharp rise in travel demand.
Interacting with the mediapersons later, the minister said 12 lakh railway employees are working day and night to ensure passengers reach their destinations safely.
He added that more than 1 crore passengers have already been served by these special trains.
The Union minister said on an average, around 4.25 lakh passengers are travelling daily from the Delhi area. He highlighted that major stations, such as at Surat, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, are under continuous monitoring, and even trains in motion are being closely tracked.
Vaishnaw said every division and zone has its own war room, ensuring round-the-clock monitoring, carried out with the dedicated efforts of all railway employees.
The minister visited the RPF Control Room via Platform Number 1, which monitors the entire station, and interacted with passengers to review on-ground arrangements. He also visited the First Aid Room and interacted with the doctors on duty.
Vaishnaw also interacted with passengers of Patna-bound Amrit Bharat Express at platform number 16 of New Delhi Railway station. They applauded and praised the arrangements made by Indian Railways for them.
He also visited the Holding area for the convenience of passengers and reviewed the information about special trains from the Rail Bhawan War Room before visiting New Delhi Railway Station. “In addition to regular train services, Indian Railways has successfully operated 4,211 special trains between 1st October and 20th October 2025, catering to over 1 crore passengers,” he said.
To further cater to the expected surge in passenger traffic for Diwali, and Chhath, Indian Railways plans to operate around 7800 more special trains in coming days.
“Between 1st and 20th October 2025, more than 1 crore passengers have already been served by these special trains. In the New Delhi area, 21.04 lakh passengers were facilitated between 16th and 20th October 2025, as compared to 19.71 lakh passengers during the corresponding period last year — an increase of 1.33 lakh passengers,” the Ministry added.