Central Railway to run two more Diwali specials between CSMT and Muzaffarpur on Nov 6 and 10

To handle the increased festival-season rush of passengers, Central Railway has decided to run additional Diwali special trains between Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Muzaffarpur.

Train No. 01081 CSMT-Muzaffarpur Special will leave CSMT at 5 am on November 6 and 10. It will reach Muzaffarpur at 4.30 pm the next day. The train will make two trips in all.

On the return, Train No. 01082 Muzaffarpur-CSMT Special will leave Muzaffarpur at 8.30 pm on November 7 and 11 and reach CSMT at 1.30 pm on the third day. This service will also make two trips.

En route, the trains will stop at Dadar, Thane, Kalyan, Nashik Road, Jalgaon, Bhusawal, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Katni, Satna, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, Buxar, Arrah, Danapur, Patliputra and Hajipur. Train No. 01082 will also stop at Igatpuri and Khandwa.

Each train will have two AC-2 tier, six AC-3 tier, four sleeper class and two second class general coaches. A generator car and a second seating-cum-luggage-cum-guard's brake van will also be attached.

Booking for Train No. 01081 at special fares will open on Thursday, November 5. Passengers can buy tickets at computerised reservation centres and on the IRCTC website. The facility is for journeys within the Advance Reservation Period (ARP).

Tickets for unreserved coaches will be available through UTS at normal fares. Passengers can also book tickets on the RailOne app. For exact timings at intermediate stations, they can check the Indian Railways enquiry website or the NTES app.

Meanwhile, Central Railway has extended 16 special trains for 36 additional trips to deal with the increased rush during Diwali and Chhath Puja. These include eight pairs of trains connecting Mumbai and Pune with different parts of the country.

These services run from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Hadapsar and Khadki. The routes include LTT-Samastipur, LTT-Banaras, LTT-Madgaon, LTT-Mau, LTT-Danapur, Khadki-Sanganer, Hadapsar-Ghazipur City and LTT-Thiruvananthapuram North.

The additional trips will run on different dates in November, depending on the route and the frequency of the service. Some of the extended services will run until November 30. Booking for these special-fare services is also due to open on November 5 at computerised reservation centres and on the IRCTC website.

According to the railway, the extension is part of arrangements to give passengers more travel options during the festivals.