Railways to ferry 700,000 passengers with record 380 Ganpati special trains

The railways has made provision to ferry 700,000 passengers by train this Ganeshotsav, rolling out a record 380 special services, each with a carrying capacity of 2,000 to 4,000 passengers.

The majority of these trains will operate from major Mumbai terminals such as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Bandra Terminus, Mumbai Central, Diva and Panvel, with halts at most Konkan belt stations, including Ratnagiri, Kudal, Sawantwadi and Kankavli.

According to railway officials, Central Railway will operate the largest share of services, with 296 trips scheduled to cater to the heavy festive demand in Maharashtra and the Konkan region.

Western Railway will add 56 trips, Konkan Railway six trips and South Western Railway 22 trips.

In comparison, 305 Ganpati special trips were operated in 2023 and 358 in 2024, making this year’s figure of 380 the highest in recent years.

In addition, CR authorities will run six unreserved eight-car specials between Panvel and Chiplun on September 5 to manage the returning rush.

For the first time, a Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) service will also be introduced by Konkan Railway during Ganesh festival.

The inaugural run will operate from Kolad to Verna from August 23, with four vehicles booked for the first trip out of the eight registered. Despite the low initial load, officials confirmed that 20 wagons and a special passenger coach would run on the first journey.