The Indian Railways continues to provide seamless transportation services to travellers across the country.
With the onset of June, several Indian states and union territories have recorded a steady decline in the daily COVID case count, owing to stringent safety measures such as lockdowns, curfews and other curbs.
Due to the declining caseload, the state governments have now allowed many government and private sectors to resume services, albeit in staggered shifts and with limited workforce. As a result, the general public has started returning from their respective states to their workplaces.
The clear effect of this movement has started reflecting on IRCTC train booking, which is once again in heavy demand for popular routes.
It must be noted that the Indian Railways was running trains as per schedule during the peak second wave, but since passenger demand was low, many of these trains had to be cancelled due to poor occupancy and reduced passenger demand.
Now, to accommodate the growing demand of passengers and to provide them ease of movement, the Indian Railways has restarted the services of 24 special passenger trains from June 5 and 6.
These trains, which were earlier suspended by various zones, will provide a huge relief to local passengers in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
These trains will connect several local popular routes in Uttar Pradesh & Bihar, such as Darbhanga – Harnagar, Saharsa – Barhara, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn. – Dildarnagar Jn. and Katihar – Sonpur among several others.
The details of the trains whose services are being restored were shared by the East Central Railway zone. The national transporter has said in its notification that the stoppage, timings and routes of these special trains will remain as notified previously.
Here is the complete list of 24 IRCTC passenger trains for UP & Bihar:
1. Train No. 05591 Darbhanga – Harnagar DEMU Passenger Special
2. Train No. 05592 Harnagar – Darbhanga DEMU Passenger Special
3. Train No. 05579 Darbhanga – Jhanjharpur DEMU Passenger Special
4. Train No. 05580 Jhanjharpur – Darbhanga DEMU Passenger Special
5. Train No. 05230 Saharsa – Barhara Kothi DEMU Passenger Special
6. Train No. 05229 Barhara – Saharsa Kothi DEMU Passenger Special
7. Train No. 05238 Barhara Kothi – Banmankhi DEMU Passenger Special
8. Train No. 05237 Banmankhi – Barhara Kothi DEMU Passenger Special
9. Train No. 03224 Rajgir – Fatuha MEMU Passenger Special
10. Train No. 03223 Fatuha – Rajgir MEMU Passenger Special
11. Train No. 03641 Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn. – Dildarnagar Jn. Passenger Special
12. Train No. 03642 Dildarnagar Jn. – Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn. Passenger Special
13. Train No. 03647 Dildarnagar – Tarighat Passenger Special
14. Train No. 03648 Tarighat – Dildarnagar Passenger Special
15. Train No. 03356 Gaya – Kiul MEMU Passenger Special
16. Train No. 03355 Kiul – Gaya MEMU Passenger Special
17. Train No. 05519 Vaishali – Sonpur DEMU Special
18. Train No. 05520 Sonpur – Vaishali DEMU Special
19. Train No. 03367 Katihar – Sonpur MEMU Special
20. Train No. 03368 Sonpur – Katihar MEMU Special
21. Train No. 03315 Samastipur – Katihar MEMU Special
22. Train No. 03316 Katihar – Samastipur MEMU Special
23. Train No. 05247 Sonpur – Chhapra MEMU Special
24. Train No. 05248 Chhapra – Sonpur MEMU Special
Note that both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have significantly relaxed COVID curbs, with Uttar Pradesh lifting the day-time curfew from all 75 districts. Similarly, Bihar has also ended the state-wide lockdown and announced new guidelines. Both states have opted to continue night curfew restrictions.
Did you know? You can check the latest state-wise rules for train passengers, such as quarantine guidelines, e-pass and registration requirements, lockdown restrictions and much more with our COVID-19 guidelines tracker.
These new IRCTC trains are sure to provide some much-needed relief to local passengers in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar!