Railway Ministry Tracks Festive Rush Across 28 Key Stations

The Ministry of Railways is closely tracking station crowds over the Deepavali weekend using a dedicated war room. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that teams are monitoring crowd levels across 28 key stations in the network.

Train Arrangements

Authorities have arranged over 18,000 additional trains for this festive period. This count is higher than the 12,000 special trains arranged during the same period last year. The Ministry achieved this increase by constantly adding tracks at many stations, which helps support more halts, alongside setting up special waiting areas.

Station Crowding

New Delhi is the only station that reached severe crowding according to the Ministry's yardstick, after massive crowds gathered from 4 p.m. onwards on Friday, November 6, 2026. Officials eased out the crowd using additional trains within four hours, and no such crowd built up by Saturday morning. Meanwhile, authorities filed an FIR against misleading claims of station crowding that used old video clips, and instructed officials to get those clips removed from social media.

Context

Festivals like Deepavali and Chhath Puja see massive travel demand in India as millions head back to their native places. Large transport networks often deploy special trains and war rooms to manage this heavy seasonal rush.