Indian Railways has been operating a record-breaking 9,111 trips during the summer season to ensure the convenience of passengers and manage the anticipated surge in travel demand.

This marks a substantial rise compared to the summer of 2023, where a total of 6,369 trips were offered. This translates to an increase of 2,742 trips, demonstrating Indian Railways’ commitment to meeting passenger demands effectively, the Ministry of Railways said on Friday.

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The additional trains have been meticulously planned to connect key destinations across the country, ensuring seamless travel on major railway routes.

All zonal railways spread across India have geared up to operate these additional trips, catering to the summer travel rush from states including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

During the summer season, Zonal Railways have been instructed to ensure availability of drinking water at Railway stations. Elaborate crowd control arrangements are made at all major and important railway stations. Senior officers are stationed at these stations to monitor all the activities to regulate the crowd in a systematic manner, the ministry said.

Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel have been deputed at originating stations to ensure Queue system for entry in General Class coaches. Skilled RPF staff is deployed in CCTV Control Rooms to keep a close watch on the crowded areas and render real time assistance to passengers.

Government Railway Police (GRP) & RPF staff are deployed at foot-over bridges to regulate crowds smoothly in order to avoid stampede-like situations during the heavy rush period.

The ministry shared that the planning and running of additional trains is a continuous process for which inputs are taken from all the communication channels 24 by 7 like media reports, Social media platforms, Railway Integrated helpline number 139, apart from details of waitlist passengers in PRS system, to assess demand of trains on a particular route.

Based on this requirement, the number of trains and number of trips are augmented. Neither the number of trains nor the number of trips run by additional train(s) is static for the entire season.