# 36-trip Vande Bharat Festival Special for New Delhi-Patna from 16 October 2026-10-13T12:28:45+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Northern Railway will run a reserved Vande Bharat Festival Special Express between New Delhi and Patna Junction from 16 October to 26 November 2026. The train, numbered 02252/02251, will cover 998 km in about 13 hours and stop at Aligarh, Kanpur Central, Prayagraj, Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, Buxar and Ara. The service will operate 18 trips in each direction. Train 02252 departs New Delhi at 08:35 hrs on 16 and 18 October, then on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 21 October to 25 November, arriving Patna at 21:30 hrs. Train 02251 departs Patna at 10:00 hrs on 17 and 19 October, then on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 22 October to 26 November, arriving New Delhi at 23:30 hrs. Chief Public Relations Officer Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay said the service aims to clear the additional festive rush. Booking details will be announced soon. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Northern Railway is adding a reserved Vande Bharat Festival Special on the New Delhi-Patna route for 18 trips each way between 16 October and 26 November 2026. The service covers 998 km in about 13 hours with six stops, offering an alternative during the festive rush when regular trains are full. The 36-trip schedule runs three days a week in each direction, timed for Durga Puja, Diwali and Chhath Puja. Ticket booking details are yet to be announced, leaving passengers to watch for the opening of IRCTC and PRS counters. ## Coverage - indianexpress.com Leads with government announcement, no criticism This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Durga Puja, Indian Railways, New Delhi, Northern Railway, Patna, Vande Bharat Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/36-trip-vande-bharat-festival-special-for-new-delhi-patna-from-16-october/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/36-trip-vande-bharat-festival-special-for-new-delhi-patna-from-16-october/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/