Patna: The railways have introduced 11 more pairs of festival special trains, taking the total number of specials originating from or passing through the East Central Railway (ECR) jurisdiction to 23 pairs, to handle the festive rush.ECR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Saraswati Chandra said the additional trains have been introduced on several busy routes connecting Bihar with major cities across the country to facilitate passenger movement during Diwali and Chhath Puja.The Hubballi (Karnataka)-Muzaffarpur weekly special will operate until Nov 24, while the Yeshwantpur (Bengaluru)-Saharsa weekly special will run until Nov 29. The Nagpur-Samastipur weekly special will operate from Oct 21 to Nov 11 and the Amritsar-Muzaffarpur weekly special from Oct 19 to Dec 1, he said.Similarly, the Narangi (Guwahati)-Gorakhpur special will run from Oct 16 to Nov 29 via Katihar, Barauni, Hajipur and Chhapra. The Tatanagar-Buxar weekly special will operate until Nov 25.The Anand Vihar Terminal-Bhagalpur special will run daily until Nov 26, while the Yog Nagari Rishikesh-Kolkata special will operate from Oct 16 to Nov 22. The Udhna-Jaynagar special will run from Oct 18 to Nov 27, Chandra said.He said the additional services have been introduced in view of the sharp increase in passenger traffic during the festive season, particularly on routes connecting Bihar with Delhi, Mumbai and other major destinations.
