By Anubhav Maurya

Copyright republicworld

Indian Railways Special Trains: Indian Railways has announced a series of new trains and special services to ease passenger travel during the festive season and improve connectivity across regions. Two special trains will operate between Mumbai Central and Kanpur Anwarganj to cater to the rising demand.Train number 09185, Mumbai Central–Kanpur Anwarganj, will run every Sunday from 5th October to 30th November at 11:00 AM, while its return service, train number 09186, Kanpur Anwarganj–Mumbai Central, will run every Monday from 6th October to 1st December at 6:25 PM. Both trains will make 18 trips during this period.Similarly, train number 09039 Udhna–Dhanbad will operate from 3rd October to 28th November every Friday at 10:00 PM, while train number 09040 Dhanbad–Udhna will run from 5th October to 30th November every Sunday at 11:50 PM.These two trains will also complete 18 trips, ensuring smoother passenger movement across important routes.In a separate move, the Central Railways has announced more than 1,100 special trains to meet the heavy rush of passengers during the upcoming festive season of Diwali, Durga Puja, and Chhath Puja.According to the press release dated 12 September, 182 new trains have been added to the already announced 944 trains, bringing the total to 1,126 special services.Most of these trains will operate from busy hubs like Mumbai and Pune, covering routes such as Mumbai–Danapur, Mumbai–Varanasi, Mumbai–Mau, Mumbai–Kazipet, Pune–Amravati, and Pune–Jaipur.To clear the festive rush, Railways will also operate 20 services of Hadapsar–Danapur–Hadapsar Puja Special Trains and extend the runs of popular services like LTT(Lokmanya Tilak Terminus)–Dhanbad, LTT–Raxaul, and LTT–Saharsa.These measures aim to ensure that passengers travelling home or planning holidays during the festive period find adequate options and relief from ticket scarcity.Meanwhile, Indian Railways has also introduced an important change in its booking system to curb misuse. Starting from 1st October 2025, Aadhaar authentication will be mandatory for booking general reserved tickets online through the IRCTC website and app during the first 15 minutes of ticket opening.This move is intended to ensure that genuine passengers benefit from the reservation system, preventing unauthorised agents from blocking tickets in bulk.However, there will be no change in the booking timings at computerised PRS counters, and the existing 10-minute restriction for agents booking opening day tickets will also continue.