State Minister for Railways Raosaheb Danve announces 78 additional Ganpati special trains

People shop at Dadar market ahead of Ganeshotsav last year. File pic

Over and above the 72 Ganpati special trains that were announced earlier this year, State Minister for Railways Raosaheb Danve said on Friday that another 78 would run from September 3 onwards. This takes the total number of trains for this year's Ganeshotsav to 150.

Of the new 78 trains announced, 40 will run on the Central Railway (CR) section and 38 on the Western Railway (WR) routes. Giving further details, officials said the WR would run 38 trips of eight pairs of special trains to various destinations on special fare.

The major trips on the CR include Panvel-Sawantwadi Road special (four services), Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Madgaon special (six services), Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Kudal special (six services), Panvel-Kudal special (six services) etc. Some special trains will also start from Pune and go till Madgaon.

The major trips on the WR section include Mumbai Central-Suratkal special (two services), Mumbai Central-Madgaon special (three services), Bandra Terminus-Madgaon (three services), Bandra Terminus-Kudal (two services) etc. Some trains will also start from Ahmedabad and Udhna stations.

Railway officials said that only those with confirmed tickets would be allowed to board the special trains.

Commuter activist, Akshay Mahapadi welcomed the decision and said. "It is important to note that regular trains have not been resumed yet. Hence, I would like to request that the trains, which do not halt at stations between Mangaon and Khed, should halt at atleast one station in the Mahad taluka. Some special trains from Pune/Nagpur should run via Kalyan junction and halt there. Some halts should be provided at Pen as well."