Indian Railways has undertaken a series of initiative this festive season to ensure maximum comfort for the travellers without compromising on quality-of-service delivery.  Around 1700 special trains are being run across India. 26 Lakhs berths are made available this festive season which is a record number. Considering the passenger rush, around 28 pairs of special trains have been running to and from N. F. Railway jurisdiction. These special trains have been operating in addition to the scheduled passenger trains.

A Northeast frontier Railway (NFR) press statement said that in order to cope up with the waiting listed passengers of regular trains connecting major destinations, special trains are running from Agartala to Guwahati, Kolkata, Secunderabad, Rani Kamalapati etc; Dhubri to New Tinsukia; Dibrugarh to Secunderabad, Gorakhpur; New Jalpaiguri to Amritsar, Sealdah, Howrah etc; Katihar to Ranchi, Mumbai, Amritsar; Naharlagun to Okha, Silchar; Purnea to Anand Vihar Terminus and Guwahati to Kolkata, Ranchi, Udaipur, Santragachi etc.

Elaborate crowd control arrangements are made at all major and important railway stations, where the huge crowds are predicted to reach for travelling to various destinations for celebrating festivals. Senior officers are stationed at these stations to monitor all the activities to regulate the crowd in a systematic manner.

Government Railway Police (GRP) & Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff are deployed at foot-over bridges to regulate crowd smoothly in order to avoid stampede like situation during the heavy rush period. Skilled RPF staff is deployed in CCTV Control Room to keep a close watch on the crowded areas and render real time assistance to passengers. Queue systems for entering into general coaches are adopted at the originating stations. Proper announcement regarding trains/ coaches is ensured well in time so that passengers are made aware of the location of General Coaches and the platform from where the trains will depart. Mixed escort are deployed in important trains for rendering real time assistance especially to lady passengers travelling in long distance trains.

In a commitment towards prioritizing a secure and enjoyable travel experience for all passengers, special trains have been running prioritise the festive rush and provide connectivity between various destinations across the country. NFR plans to operate more special trains till the festive rush continues.