Kolkata: To manage the Holi rush, the Eastern Railway (ER) and South Eastern Railway (SER) have announced a series of special trains connecting various destinations.
The ER has scheduled 18 Holi special trains, covering 86 trips in both directions. These trains will operate on various routes, including Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri, Malda Town-Charlapalli, Howrah-Anand Vihar Terminal, Malda Town-Udhna, Kolkata-Puri, Malda Town-Pune, Malda Town-Anand Vihar Terminal, Malda Town-Delhi, Howrah-Raxaul, Sealdah-Gorakhpur, Kolkata-Patna, Kolkata-Jaynagar, Howrah-Khatipura, Howrah-New Jalpaiguri, Kolkata-Lalkuan and Kolkata-Kanpur Central.
These Holi special trains commenced operations on March 3 and will run until the end of the month.
The South Eastern Railway has also announced the operation of 11 Holi special trains, covering routes between Charlapalli and Shalimar, Charlapalli and Santragachi, Santragachi and Darbhanga, MGR Chennai Central and Santragachi, Podanur and Barauni, Gondia and Patna, and Malda Town and Charlapalli. In total, these trains will make 24 trips in both directions.
SER will also operate a special train between Kolkata and Puri, with departures from Kolkata on March 13, 18 and 20, and return trips from Puri on March 14, 19 and 21.
To manage the anticipated rush, ER has undertaken extensive crowd management measures across all its divisions, including Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol and Malda.