With the approach of Diwali and Chhath festivals, people working in various cities across the country, especially from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand, are planning to return home. Diwali falls on November 8th, and Chhath Puja will run from November 13th to 16th, including evening Arghya on November 15th and morning Arghya on November 16th. This has caused a significant increase in load on trains and flights heading to Bihar and Jharkhand during the first and second weeks of November, as is customary every year.
Residents from the Purvanchal and Bihar regions living in other states are preparing for a mass return. However, the journey home for residents of Purvanchal looks challenging. As soon as booking opened, train tickets were sold out, and now most trains display a 'Regret' status after long waiting periods. Thus, hope for getting a train ticket has vanished, forcing people to consider air travel. But the cost of air tickets is so high that ordinary people cannot afford such a trip.
For passengers traveling from Delhi to Bihar, it has become difficult to find seats on several key trains. Among the available options are Tejas Rajdhani Express, Sampoorna Kranti Express, Sampark Kranti Express, Vaishali Express, Purbia Express, Magadh Express, Amrit Bharat Express, and Garib Rath. None of these options have vacant seats in November. This means that for those who could not book tickets, the options are constantly shrinking. Now, they must hope for special Sahara Puja trains.
The situation with trains from Mumbai to Bihar is also causing concern. On train 13202 LTT-Rajgir Express, the waitlist increased from 14 to 16 by November 3rd, starting October 31st. From November 5th to 10th, the status remains consistently 'Regret', and on November 11th, the waitlist reaches 17. On train 12336 LTT-Bhagalpur Express, the waitlist reached 40 on November 1st and 37 on November 8th; this train also shows 'Regret' on November 3rd and 10th. Furthermore, increased demand is expected for train 12141 Pataliputra Express, which runs directly from Mumbai to Pataliputra before Chhath.
Options for those traveling from Hyderabad to Bihar are even more limited. Among the main trains on this route is 12791 Superfast Express, which covers a distance of about 1830 kilometers and arrives in Danapur in approximately 32 hours and 50 minutes. This train already showed 'Regret' on many dates in October. This creates difficulties for passengers who rely solely on one train when planning last-minute trips during the holidays.
After train tickets became unavailable, passengers have the option of flying, but the financial blow is even greater here. On the Delhi-Patna route, economy class air tickets have reached levels from 8,000 to 13,000 rupees since early November. On the Mumbai-Patna route, economy ticket prices exceed 16,000 rupees. As for the Hyderabad-Patna route, the price exceeds 23,000 rupees. On the Delhi-Darbhanga route, the starting price for November is from 9,000 to 16,000 rupees. As the festive dates approach and demand rises, air travel becomes unaffordable for the average person.
The story of those returning to Jharkhand for Diwali and Chhath is not unique. A Mumbai-Ranchi flight reached 26,000 rupees. Destinations like Delhi-Ranchi, Durgapur, and Deoghar cost about twice as much in November as on regular days. Moreover, airfares from Mumbai and Bangalore to these cities have seen nearly a threefold increase. The situation for passengers heading to Dhanbad is even more complicated, as they have to consider flights via Ranchi, Durgapur, or Deoghar.
Given the crowd during the holidays, the railway has resorted to using additional trains. The launch of 16 pairs of special trains for Bihar is planned, which will conduct about 400 services from October 1st to November 30th. Additionally, one to two extra air-conditioned coaches will be added to regular trains as needed. These routes include Chandigarh-Patna, Firozpur Kant-Patna, Anand Vihar-Jogbani, Delhi-Sitamadhi, and Pataliputra-Anand Vihar.
The railway company has also provided special trains for Jharkhand. The launch of the Ajmer-Ranchi special train is planned. Furthermore, the frequency of the special train from Anand Vihar to Santragachi via Ranchi has been increased. The special train Ranchi-Anand Vihar-Ranchi 02977 will operate from October 3rd to November 29th. It will depart from Ranchi to Anand Vihar every Saturday and arrive back in Ranchi on Monday, departing from Anand Vihar on Sunday. In addition, the launch of trains 102 and Festival Special has been announced, which will run on high-demand routes, including destinations from various cities across the country to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bengal.
