Railways to operate 7,000 special trains including clones, for Diwali

28 Oct 2024 CW Team

In preparation for the Diwali and Chhath Puja festivals, Indian Railways will run 7,000 special trains, including clone trains, to accommodate the surge in passengers. Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information & Publicity at the Railway Board, announced that expanded services and additional facilities are being arranged to manage the festive rush.

Kumar highlighted that demand rises significantly in regions like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during this period, prompting the railway to deploy trains from key stations across the country, including Old Delhi, New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Visakhapatnam. He noted that the number of special trains has nearly doubled from the 4,300 deployed last year.

To ensure smooth operations, Indian Railways has enhanced security at stations with additional personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Ticket counters have also been increased to manage passenger flow effectively.

Clone trains will complement high-demand routes by departing 15 minutes after the original train, providing additional seating for travelers. "The clone trains will address the overwhelming demand on popular routes, ensuring passengers have more travel options," Kumar said.

During a press briefing, Northern Railway General Manager Ashok Kumar Verma detailed their plans for the festive period. Northern Railway has announced 3,144 trips between October 1 and November 30, the highest among all zones. Around 85% of these special trains will serve passengers traveling to eastern states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Assam.

Verma added that Northern Railway will operate 65 extra trains per day from Delhi during the peak 13-day period, compared to 59 last year, offering an additional 120,000 berths to passengers. (ET)

Infrastructure Transport

01 Jun 2026

MMRDA advances 250 m on Orange Gate–Marine Drive tunnel

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has completed 250 m of underground tunnelling for the Orange Gate–Marine Drive Urban Road Tunnel using India’s largest slurry shield tunnel boring machine (TBM) deployed for an urban road project.The project involves twin tunnels extending over 7 km beneath critical transport corridors, including Central Railway, Western Railway and Metro Line 3. The work requires high-precision engineering to navigate densely developed urban infrastructure.Once completed, the tunnel is expected to reduce travel time between Orange Gate and Marin..

Hindustan Zinc Pays Rs 188.46 Billion in FY26

Hindustan Zinc contributed Rs 188.46 billion to the public exchequer in FY 2025-26, according to its 9th Tax Transparency Report. The contribution, equivalent to 46 per cent of the company’s revenue, included direct and indirect taxes, government royalties, dividends to the Government of India, withholding taxes and other statutory levies.The company’s five-year cumulative contribution to the exchequer stood at Rs 915.72 billion. In FY26, Hindustan Zinc reported revenue of Rs 408.44 billion, EBITDA of Rs 221.62 billion and profit after tax of Rs 138.32 billion. It also achieved its highest..

World of Concrete India 2026 Opens in Mumbai

Informa Markets in India will host the 12th edition of World of Concrete India 2026 from 3–5 June 2026 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai. The specialised B2B exhibition will bring together manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, developers, architects, consultants, infrastructure companies, project leaders and government stakeholders.The event is expected to feature over 350 brands and more than 18,000 trade professionals. It will cover concrete and cement, dry mortar, precast technologies, formwork, construction chemicals, industrial and commercial flooring, scaffolding, safety solutio..