North Western Railway has announced 13 pairs of festive special trains for the Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali travel rush, but passengers at Jaipur Junction continue to face long waiting lists for confirmed berths. The announcement is intended to add capacity between Rajasthan and major destinations, although the supplied report contains conflicting figures on the number of existing special-train services being extended.
According to the Times of India report, the 13 pairs of newly announced trains will make 264 trips. The services are planned from or extended at stations including Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Sikar and Sanganer. The reported destinations include Prayagraj, Patna, Gorakhpur, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Mumbai and Chennai.
The new services include connections between Prayagraj and Sikar, Ajmer and Ranchi, Jodhpur and Danapur, and Howrah and Khatipura in Jaipur. The additional trains are intended to serve passengers travelling for religious visits, family journeys and festive-season trips between Rajasthan and other parts of the country.
However, the report also records continuing pressure on the reservation system. A visit by the Times of India to the reservation office at Jaipur Junction on Saturday found heavy crowds, with several passengers receiving wait-listed tickets for journeys scheduled during the peak travel period. Aniket Bhatt, a Jaipur-based private-sector employee travelling to Ahmedabad for Navratri, said he had booked a ticket for October 12 but remained on the waiting list.
The demand reflects the sharp seasonal concentration of intercity travel on routes linking Rajasthan with western, northern and eastern India. For passengers, the availability of a special service does not automatically mean access to a confirmed berth, particularly where popular routes have already accumulated waiting lists. The report does not provide route-wise capacity, berth numbers or waiting-list data.
NWR chief public relations officer Amit Sudarshan said the railway was operating adequate trains and had extended some summer special services to meet the festive rush. He added that more trains were likely to be introduced as demand increased. The report attributes a statement to an NWR officer saying that the 13 pairs would connect Rajasthan with several major destinations.
There is, however, a material inconsistency in the supplied report regarding the extension of existing services. Its opening summary says that 25 pairs of special trains have been extended, while the later statement attributed to Sudarshan refers to the extension of another 16 pairs until the end of November. The railway’s confirmed figure, the routes covered and the total additional capacity therefore require verification before the final service plan can be treated as established.
NWR has said that more trains may be added as the festivals approach. The next relevant milestone for passengers will be the publication or confirmation of the final list of special services, their operating dates, route schedules and berth availability.
