# Four festival special trains from Chandigarh for Bihar and UP 2026-10-26T23:37:12+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Railways has introduced four festival special trains from Chandigarh to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to handle the Diwali and Chhath Puja rush. The additional services will connect Chandigarh with Barauni, Patna, Varanasi and Purnia on selected days from 29 October. Bookings opened through IRCTC and reservation counters. The Chandigarh-Barauni special will run on Fridays from 27 November. The Chandigarh-Patna service will operate on Thursdays. The Chandigarh-Varanasi special will run twice weekly on Mondays and Fridays. A Firozpur-Purnia special will also pass through Chandigarh on Thursdays from 29 October. All services include multiple stoppages covering key stations on the routes. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The four special trains barely add capacity on routes where waiting lists already hit hundreds. Migrant workers and students heading home for Diwali and Chhath will still find booked-out regular services, so the specials help only those who manage secure a reservation. The Railways has opened bookings but not announced additional general-class coaches or un-reserved services, which is where most seasonal crowding occurs. With the first service beginning 29 October, travellers on other days have no extra option. Chandigarh is a major transit hub, yet only one special each for Barauni and Patna uses timing that arrives overnight. The key gap remains that the trains run on fixed weekdays for a limited festival window, leaving un-served days and routes unaddressed. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Leads with official announcement, no passenger hardship or complaint This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Update, 27 October 2026: this story has been refreshed. Last updated 2026-10-27T01:57:00+00:00. Tags: Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhath Puja, Diwali, Indian Railways, Uttar Pradesh Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/railways-rolls-out-4-festival-special-trains-on-bihar-up-routes/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/railways-rolls-out-4-festival-special-trains-on-bihar-up-routes/#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/