Railways to run extra trains for summer rush

New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) In order to cope with the summer season (April-June) rush of passenger traffic, the Indian Railways Friday said it has planned over 5,600 trips of special trains on 44 popular routes.

According to officials, out of the summer specials planned to connect destinations like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jammu, Jaipur, Guwahati, Lucknow and Pune, 14 trains are unreserved, two are fully air-conditioned and 10 provided superfast status.

The railways have also published a summer special time table 2012 incorporating the above routes. It is available at major stations for Rs.5.

Officials said about 119 new services introduced on regular basis will also become available during the summer, adding that extra coaches will also be attached to regular trains to the extent operationally feasible.

Checking squads are being deployed at reservation offices and inspections are being done to prevent misuse of tickets with special arrangements to make regular announcements about additional coaches and special trains.