Western Railway has announced additional festival-season train capacity for passengers travelling from Gujarat towards northern and eastern India, including extra sleeper coaches on the Sabarmati–Prayagraj Special and a weekly Pratapnagar–Kolkata Special between October and November 2026.
An additional sleeper coach will be attached to train 04180, the Sabarmati–Prayagraj Special, on October 11 and 14. The returning train, 04179 Prayagraj–Sabarmati Special, will receive the additional coach on October 10 and 13. The temporary arrangement is intended to provide more berths for passengers travelling towards Uttar Pradesh during the festival season.
Western Railway has also scheduled train 03110, the Pratapnagar–Kolkata Special, from October 15 to November 26. The train will operate every Thursday, departing Pratapnagar at 4.15 pm and reaching Kolkata at 12.05 pm on Saturday. The return service, train 03109 Kolkata–Pratapnagar Special, will run every Tuesday from October 13 to November 24. It will depart Kolkata at 8 am and arrive at Pratapnagar at 11.40 pm the following day.
The weekly service will connect several stations across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Its listed stoppages include Vadodara, Godhra, Ratlam, Ramganj Mandi, Kota Junction, Sawai Madhopur, Gangapur City, Idgah Agra, Tundla, Govindpuri, Prayagraj, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, Bhabua Road, Sasaram, Dehri On Son, Anugraha Narayan Road, Gaya, Tilaiya, Nawada, Sheikhpura, Kiul, Jhajha, Jasidih, Madhupur, Chittaranjan, Asansol, Durgapur and Barddhaman.
The train will include Third AC, sleeper and general second-class coaches. This mix provides different fare and seating options for passengers travelling across the long-distance route, although the source report does not specify the total number of coaches or seats available on the service.
The announcement comes as rail travel demand rises during the festival season, when passengers often travel between industrial and employment centres in Gujarat and their home regions in northern and eastern India. For the railway system, temporary services and coach augmentations are a way to add capacity on routes where demand increases sharply for a limited period without creating a permanent timetable change.
The two measures also show the different ways Western Railway is responding to seasonal demand. The extra sleeper coach on the Sabarmati–Prayagraj service is limited to four specified journeys, while the Pratapnagar–Kolkata train will operate weekly for several weeks. Passengers using either service will need to check reservations, coach availability and the latest railway timetable before travelling.
The Pratapnagar–Kolkata Special is scheduled to continue until November 26 in the onward direction, while the return service is scheduled until November 24. The temporary arrangements will therefore cover the main festival travel period identified in Western Railway’s announcement.
