New Delhi, February 25 The Ministry of Railways announced on Wednesday that it will operate 1,244 special train trips across various zones between February 25 and March 18 this year, to facilitate smooth, safe, and comfortable travel for passengers.
These special services will connect major cities, state capitals, and important regional centers across the country, ensuring confirmed accommodation and reducing congestion on regular trains.
"Indian Railways has made elaborate arrangements to facilitate smooth, safe, and comfortable travel for passengers during the upcoming Holi festival," the ministry said in a statement.
It added, "To manage the anticipated surge in passenger traffic, 1,244 Holi Special train trips are to be operated across various railway zones for the Holi period from February 25, 2026 to March 18, 2026. The number may increase up to 1,500 if more demand is observed."
Officials said the key long-distance connections include Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur to destinations such as Danapur, Gorakhpur, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Samastipur, and Barauni; Visakhapatnam, Puri, and Bhubaneswar to Shalimar, Patna, Yesvantpur, and Dhanbad; and major Bihar and Jharkhand hubs like Patna, Darbhanga, Saharsa, and Dhanbad to New Delhi, Anand Vihar Terminal, Chandigarh, and SMVT Bengaluru.
According to the ministry, the Eastern and Northern corridors will see enhanced connectivity between Howrah, Sealdah, Kolkata, and Malda town with Raxaul, Madhubani, Gorakhpur, and Anand Vihar terminal, while Delhi region stations will be extensively linked with Varanasi, Lucknow, Ayodhya Cantonment, Haridwar, Amritsar, and Katihar.
"From the South, special services will connect MGR Chennai Central, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram North, Coimbatore, Secunderabad, Tirupati, and SMVT Bengaluru with Patna, Barauni, Muzaffarpur, Santragachi, Ajmer, Jaipur, and other northern and eastern centers," the statement said.
"Western India, including Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, and Bandra Terminus, will have additional links to Kanpur, Katihar, Banaras, Gorakhpur, Darbhanga, and Bhagalpur," it added.