New Delhi: With passengers facing widespread flight cancellations and heavy holiday-season traffic, Indian Railways has expanded its special train operations
to ease travel pressure across the country. On Thursday, Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced a special train service between New Delhi and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to support the rising number of devotees travelling to the Jammu and Kashmir shrine. In a post on X, the minister confirmed that Northern Railway will run Special Train 04081/04082 on 12 and 13 December 2025, ensuring smoother connectivity during the peak winter rush.
New Delhi–Katra Special Train Details
Train No. 04081 will depart New Delhi at 11:45 pm and arrive in Katra at 12:00 pm the next day.The service will halt at key stations including:
- Panipat
- Kurukshetra
- Ambala Cantt
- Ludhiana
- Jalandhar Cantt
- Pathankot Cantt
- Jammu
- Shaheed Captain Tushar Mahajan Udhampur
The return service, Train No. 04082, will run on the same two days to support the surge of devotees travelling to and from the holy destination.
89 Special Trains Planned Across Zones
Responding to increased passenger demand, Railways has scheduled 89 special train services (over 100 trips) between 6 and 9 December across multiple zones. These were rolled out to ensure adequate connectivity amid the winter travel surge and airline disruptions.
Central Railway Special Services
Central Railway has operated 14 special trains to manage rising passenger volumes. These include:- 01413/01414 Pune–Bengaluru–Pune
- 01409/01410 Pune–Hazrat Nizamuddin–Pune
- 01019/01020 LTT–Madgaon–LTT
- 01077/01078 CSMT–Hazrat Nizamuddin–CSMT
- 01015/01016 LTT–Lucknow–LTT
- 01012/01011 Nagpur–CSMT–Nagpur
- 05587/05588 Gorakhpur–LTT–Gorakhpur
- 08245/08246 Bilaspur–LTT–Bilaspur
South Eastern Railway Special Trains
To cope with the travel surge following flight cancellations, South Eastern Railway has planned:
- 08073/08074 Santragachi–Yelahanka–Santragachi
- 02870/02869 Howrah–CSMT–Howrah
- 07148/07149 Cherlapalli–Shalimar–Cherlapalli
South Central Railway Services
South Central Railway has operated three special trains:
- 07148 Cherlapalli–Shalimar
- 07146 Secunderabad–Chennai Egmore
- 07150 Hyderabad–Mumbai LTT
Eastern Railway Operations
Eastern Railway has also added services to support passengers, including:
- 03009/03010 Howrah–New Delhi–Howrah
- 03127/03128 Sealdah–LTT–Sealdah
Western Railway’s Special Trains
To meet continuous high travel demand, Western Railway will run seven special trains, including:
- 09001/09002 Mumbai Central–Bhiwani Superfast Special (bi-weekly)
- Operating every Tuesday and Friday from Mumbai Central between 9 and 30 December
- Operating every Wednesday and Saturday from Bhiwani between 10 and 31 December
- Total: 14 trips
