Indian Railways to launch special trains to meet the Christmas & New Year travel rush

In a recent update, Indian Railways has shared its plan to introduce special trains to meet the festive rush. The railways, in order to manage the anticipated passenger surge during Christmas and New Year 2025-26, has mentioned introducing special trains. In its official press release, the Ministry of Railways confirmed that an extensive network of special trains will be operated across multiple zones. In a statement issued on 18 December 2025, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) outlined that a total of 244 special train trips have already been notified. These are planned across eight major railway zones to help millions of passengers reach their destinations this festive season.The main aim of the Indian Railways is to add to the capacity and expand connectivity, especially on highly demanded destinations. These additional services will run alongside regular passenger and express trains, offering passengers more seating and sleeper options to reach their destinations without undue congestion at stations. Zone-wise Special Train Deployment

As per official release, special train operations have been spread across several zones:Central Railway (CR) has the highest number of notified special trips at 76. These include services connecting key destinations like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and other central India hubs. Western Railway (WR) will run 72 trips targeting heavy routes and beach destinations on the Konkan coast. The South Central Railway (SCR) will run 26 trainsSouth East Central Railway (SECR) will run 24 tripsNorth Western Railway (NWR) and Northern Railway (NR) operate 6 and 8 special trips, respectively.North Frontier Railway (NFR) will run 4 tripsThese special services will run daily and weekly on popular routes like Mumbai CSMT/Lokmanya Tilak Terminus to Karmali/Madgaon on the Konkan Railway, Pune to Sanganer, and long-distance runs connecting Delhi, Howrah, and other key cities.Ticket BookingRailway authorities have also mentioned that more special train trips are coming soon. Travellers are encouraged to secure their seats early via official booking channels such as IRCTC online portal and reservation counters, among others. With this large-scale operation, Indian Railways anticipates that festive travel will proceed smoothly, enabling millions of Indians to celebrate Christmas and welcome the New Year with their loved ones—without travel stress.