Travellers planning to head home from Mumbai to other states during the summer holidays will find relief this year as Railways has announced a large number of special trains to manage the seasonal rush.
The move is aimed at ensuring smoother travel for passengers returning to their hometowns during the peak vacation period.
Central Railway has announced plans to operate 1,484 summer special trains, including 749 reserved services and 735 unreserved trains, for passengers travelling to various destinations across and beyond Maharashtra. These services will include both regular on-demand trains and additional special services introduced to accommodate the surge in passenger traffic.
Within Maharashtra, special trains will operate on routes such as Mumbai/Daund-Solapur, Pune-Kolhapur, Nashik Road-Badnera, and Hadapsar-Harangal. For passengers travelling outside the state, special trains will run on routes including Mumbai-Ballia, Mumbai-Gorakhpur, Daund-Kalaburagi, Solapur-Kalaburagi, and Anakapalle.
Railway officials said the initiative is aimed at helping travellers plan their journeys in advance and avoid last-minute difficulties during the busy summer season. To improve passenger comfort, Central Railway has also strengthened facilities across its network and taken several operational measures to handle the expected increase in demand.
Officials added that the detailed timetable and stoppage information for these special trains will be released soon.
In a new step towards demand-based planning, Indian Railways will also use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to analyse ticket searches, waiting lists and passenger demand. Additional trains may be introduced on routes where demand remains high. For now, the current plan has been prepared based on travel data from the previous year, with scope to increase the number of trains if required.
