The Railway Ministry has released a list of 12,011 train trips scheduled between October 1 and November 30, 2025, suggesting that an average 196 special trains are operating daily from various destinations in the country to cater to the heavy festive rush.
The highest number of special trains operated so far on a single day was around 280 on October 18, while the lowest was approximately 166 on October 8.
Officials said that the ministry worked day and night for months with all the zones and divisions to identify and utilise all available coaches to ensure that passengers could reach their destinations in time to celebrate festivals.
“Almost all the coaches, including those sent for repair, were retrieved ensuring their fitness from all 70 railway divisions across the country to facilitate 12,011 trips based on passenger movements,” a railway official said.
However, a section of officials and railway activists claimed that the list includes not only some short-distance local trains but also some regular trains renamed as Puja special to allegedly inflate the figure.
“Train no. 09721 in the Up and 09722 in the Down direction have been running everyday for several years as a Superfast Special train, covering about 400 km distance between Jaipur and Udaipur. This regular train has now been renamed as Puja special in the list, and its 122 trips have been counted,” Chandra Shekhar Gaur, an RTI activist from Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, said.
"On July 16, 2025, I wrote to the Railway Board and demanded that the ‘special’ tag be removed from this train because it has been in regular service for several years. I can point out this anomaly because I am personally aware of it. Who knows how many more such anomalies exist in the list?” he added.
The Railways defended its decision saying that all trains running as specials in the past or newly-introduced for the ongoing festive season have been deployed for passengers’ convenience.
“Instead of pointing out stray instances, I think people should appreciate the mammoth exercise being carried out by 12 lakh railway employees working day and night,” a senior railway official said.
"Besides the tireless efforts of workers and employees, the railway minister himself has visited stations multiple times to encourage the morale of employees and review passenger amenities,” he said.
The list of 12,011 trips also includes many trains running on very short-distance routes of 100 to 200 kms everyday.
“For instance, a DMU train, operating between Sikar and Jaipur, a distance of 110 km, has been listed. This train, numbered 04801 in the Up direction and 04802 in the Down direction, is scheduled to make a total of 122 trips, 61 in each direction, over two months,” an official said.
He added, "Similarly, 122 trips of a train (no. 04853 for Up and 04854 for Down direction) have been scheduled to cover about 125 km between Loharu and Sikar.” “Passengers face problems when travelling long distances of over 1000 km. For shorter distances of 100 or 200 km, there are other transport options available that people can use more easily,” the official said.
“There is no denying the fact that the Railways has put its best foot forward to operate special trains for passengers’ convenience. However, making misleading claims by inflating trips doesn’t serve any purpose,” he added.
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