After IndiGo’s nationwide flight disruptions pushing thousands of travellers to seek alternative transport, Indian Railways has stepped in by adding extra AC coaches to several major interstate trains,
aiming to ease the mounting travel crunch.
It comes after Railways on Friday deployed 116 extra coaches on 37 trains across multiple zones as passenger loads surged following widespread IndiGo cancellations and delays.
On similar lines, Railways added one three-AC coach each on key long-distance trains, including:
- Bengaluru–Agartala Humsafar Express
- Mangaluru–Thiruvananthapuram Central Express
- Bengaluru–Chennai Dr. MGR Chennai Express
- Mumbai–Mangaluru Superfast Express
- Mumbai–Mangaluru CST Superfast Express
According to officials, the additional coaches, spanning sleeper, AC chair car and general second-class categories, have allowed Railways to run 114 augmented trips, carrying up to 4,000 passengers per trip and accommodating 4.89 lakh passengers in total so far.
Plans are underway to introduce 30 new special trains, each with 18 coaches, capable of carrying more than 30,000 passengers per trip. These special services, across 57 trips, are expected to cater to over 21 lakh travellers.
Overall, the temporary arrangements are designed to handle up to 35,000 passengers daily, ensuring connectivity for nearly 26 lakh people during the period of aviation instability.
Railways officials said many of these augmented trains originate from major hubs such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Jammu Tawi, Patna, Howrah and Chennai, linking them to both major metros and tier-2 cities.
The additional coaches will remain in operation “as long as the situation demands,” they added.
Northern Railway, witnessing a sharp spike in demand, has also increased capacity in several premium services.
One 3AC coach has been added to both the Jammu Rajdhani (12425/26) and Dibrugarh Rajdhani (12423/24), while an AC Chair Car coach has been introduced in the Chandigarh Shatabdi (12045/46) and Amritsar Shatabdi (12029/30).
Officials said the railway is prepared to scale up further.
“We are closely monitoring the situation. If required, we may run fully air-conditioned special trains on multiple routes to ensure passengers are not inconvenienced due to flight disruptions,” a senior railway official stated.
