agencies
NEW DELHI, May 19: Indian Railways has announced the operation of 6369 special trips for the summer season, aiming to ensure a smooth and comfortable travel experience for passengers. This year, a total of 380 special trains will make these trips, with over 80 thousand coaches in service. Compared to last year's summer special trains, which consisted of 348 trains making 4599 trips, there has been a significant increase of 1770 trips. In the current year, an average of 16.8 trips per special train is being offered, compared to 13.2 trips per train last summer. The special trains connect major destinations such as Patna-Secunderabad, Patna-Yesvantpur, Barauni-Muzaffarpur, Delhi-Patna, New Delhi-Katra, Chandigarh-Gorakhpur, Anand Vihar-Patna, Visakhapatnam-Puri-Howrah, Mumbai-Patna, and Mumbai-Gorakhpur. These 380 special trains, making a total of 6369 trips, are equipped with 25794 General Coaches and 55243 Sleeper Coaches. General Coaches have a capacity of 100 passengers, while Sleeper Coaches can accommodate 72 passengers in ICF (Integral Coach Factory) and 78 passengers in LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches. To cater to the summer rush, all zonal Railways across the country are prepared to operate special trips. The South Western Railway, mainly serving Karnataka, has scheduled the highest number of trips this summer, with 1790 trips compared to 779 trips last year. Similarly, Western Railway, primarily serving Gujarat, has increased its trips from 438 to 1470. South Central Railway is running 784 trips, an increase of 80 trips from the previous year. Northern Western Railway is running 400 trips, East Central Railway is running 380 trips, and Northern Railway plans to operate 324 trips this year to manage the heavy rush in the northern region. The number of trains and trips may vary throughout the season based on demand and inputs received from various communication channels, including media reports, social media platforms, the Railway Integrated helpline number 139, and the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) waitlist data.
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