Indian Railways to ply Ganapati Special trains in Gujarat & Maharashtra ahead of festival

As the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is just around the corner, the Indian Railways has decided to run additional 'Ganapati Special' trains in coordination with Western Railway and Central Railway in Gujarat and Maharashtra to facilitate the movement of travellers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ganapati Special trains are said to run between Ahmedabad/Vadodara and Ratnagiri/Kudal/Sawantwadi Road stations to clear extra rush of passengers.

Train number 09416 Ahmedabad Junction - Kudal Weekly Special on Special Fare will leave from Ahmedabad Junction at 09:30 hours on August 18 and 25. The train will reach Kudal at 04:30 hours on the next day (2 Trips), the Indian Railways said in a release.

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Train number 09415 Kudal - Ahmedabad Junction Weekly Special on Special Fare will leave from Kudal at 05:30 hrs on August 19 and 26. The train will reach Ahmedabad Junction at 00:15 hours on the next day (2 Trips), it added.

The train will halt at Vadodara, Surat, Vapi, Vasai Road, Panvel, Roha, Mangaon, Veer, Khed, Chiplun, Sawarda, Aravali Road, Sangameshwar Road, Ratnagiri, Rajapur Road, Vaibhavwadi Road, Kankavali and Sindhudurg station.

All passengers will have to adhere to travel guidelines by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and SOPs of the Government of Maharashtra and Government of Gujarat, the Indian Railways said.

Passengers are required to book the tickets at Passenger Reservation System (PRS) Counters or through IRCTC Website as the trains will be fully reserved and the bookings for the trains will begin from August 17. Ganesh Chaturthi, the 11 days festival will be celebrated this year from August 22 to September 1, although it is expected to be celebrated with less pomp and fervour in view of the pandemic.

This comes as a piece of good news for the devotees after the Railways on August 14 said they had intimated the Maharashtra government about the Centre's readiness to ply Ganapati Special trains to which the Railways informed that Maharashtra government has put the offer on hold and no information has been received from the state government in this regard.

"Central Railway wishes to inform the passengers that it is ready to run the specials, however, the final go-ahead is yet to be confirmed by the state government," the Railways had said in a statement on August 14.

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