Surat: The festive rush ahead of Diwali and Chhath Puja has gathered momentum at Udhna railway station, with around 30,000 passengers travelling to various destinations between Saturday night and Sunday. To accommodate the heavy rush during the pre-Diwali weekend, Western Railway operated eight notified special trains and one additional unnotified service.With thousands of migrant workers heading to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, Western Railway made extensive arrangements to manage the crowds and ensure smooth passenger movement. Besides regular services, several special trains were operated from Udhna to meet the additional demand.The special trains connected Udhna with destinations such as Kanpur Central, Hasanpur, Madhubani and Jaynagar. In addition to the Antyodaya Express, three special trains to Jaynagar departed at 3.30am, 5.30am and 11.30am on Sunday. The 3.30am service was not notified in advance but was introduced at short notice after railway authorities noticed a sudden surge in passenger numbers.Regular services, including the Amrit Bharat Express and Tapti Ganga Express, also operated during the period.Mumbai division divisional railway manager (DRM) Pankaj Singh visited Udhna station along with senior railway officials to review crowd management arrangements and assess passenger facilities. He also interacted with passengers to seek feedback on the arrangements.Indian Railways public relations officer (PRO) Anubhav Saxena told TOI that all passengers waiting in the holding area had been accommodated on special trains and had departed for their respective destinations by the time the 11.30 am Jaynagar special was scheduled to leave, following the departure of the Tapti Ganga Express.“Anticipating a heavy rush, additional reserved rakes and special trains were kept ready to meet the demand based on passenger numbers. This enabled us to introduce an unnotified special train to Jaynagar from Udhna,” Saxena said.The PRO added that this was the first major festive rush since the creation of the holding area at Udhna station, which has been equipped with several facilities to manage crowds. “All 30,000 passengers were accommodated on trains through seamless operations,” he said.
