Last Updated:December 06, 2025, 23:49 IST

The trains, which are to make over 100 trips, were arranged in the shortest possible time after an emergency analysis of traffic flow in major hubs.

As IndiGo flight disruptions continue to affect passengers across the country, Indian Railways has stepped in with additional arrangements to ease travel woes. The Railways on Saturday announced 89 special trains to be operated over the next three days across all zones, to ease the pressure on passengers scrambling for alternative travel options after days of IndiGo disruptions.

In a coordinated move by the Railway Ministry, the trains, which are to make over 100 trips, were arranged in the shortest possible time after an emergency analysis of traffic flow in major hubs, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna, and Howrah.

“The number of special trains and their trips might increase further depending on the traffic scenario. All zones have been asked to use all available resources—including rolling stock and manpower—to safely operate these trains for the convenience of lakhs of stranded passengers,” news agency PTI quoted Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information & Publicity, Railway Board, as saying.

Officials said many divisions have already begun disseminating train information at airports to assist flyers who are being forced to seek last-minute rail options.

Zone-Wise Efforts Across the Network

Western Railway

Western Railway will operate special trains on special fares, including services on routes such as Mumbai Central–New Delhi, Mumbai Central–Bhiwani, Mumbai Central–Shakur Basti, Bandra Terminus–Durgapura, Valsad–Bilaspur, and two Sabarmati–Delhi/Sarai Rohilla services.

South Central Railway

South Central Railway announced several special trains to handle the sudden surge in passenger demand.

Central Railway

Central Railway and Northern Railway have planned 14 and 10 special trains respectively, with officials noting that numbers may be revised upward depending on crowd levels.

Northern Railway

North Eastern Railway

North Western Railway

South Eastern Railway

South Eastern Railway has issued alerts to passengers and even notified the Airport Authority to display train information for stranded flyers.

South East Central Railway

East Central Railway

Southern Railway

Eastern Railway

Alongside the new trains, Railways has strengthened capacity on existing routes by attaching extra AC coaches to popular interstate services such as the Bengaluru–Agartala Humsafar Express, Mangaluru–Thiruvananthapuram Express, Bengaluru–Chennai Express and the Mumbai–Mangaluru sector.

IndiGo Crisis

IndiGo’s operational meltdown entered its fifth consecutive day on Saturday, with hundreds of domestic flights cancelled across major airports, marking the worst phase yet of the ongoing crisis. The disruptions are primarily caused by a shortage of pilots that was not anticipated due to planning deficiencies.

Earlier on Friday, the crisis triggered a full-scale intervention by the Centre, which ordered a high-level probe, put Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms in abeyance, and directed the airline to initiate automatic refunds for all cancelled flights.

Operating 2,300 flights daily with a fleet of over 400 aircraft, IndiGo has seen its punctuality plummet with the operational disruptions that are expected to continue for many more days.

(With inputs from agencies)

Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google.

Read More