Indigo crisis: ER, SER operate special trains to address surge in passenger demand
The Statesman | 7 December 2025
Amid the ongoing crisis brought by cancellation of numerous flights by Indigo, the railways has come forward to the rescue of thousands of stranded passengers in various parts of the country.
The Eastern and South Eastern Railway have decided to operate special trains in some of the busiest routes connecting Kolkata with other cities.
To cater to the surge in passenger demand, following widespread flight cancellations, the Indian Railways announced an augmentation of 37 trains with 116 additional coaches, operating over 114 augmented trips across the country. In Kolkata, to clear the extra rush of passengers, the Eastern Railway announced special trains between Howrah and New Delhi and Sealdah and Lokmanyatilak. The 03009 Howrah -New Delhi special will leave Howrah at 11 p.m. today to reach New Delhi at 4.30 a.m. on the third day and 03010 New Delhi – Howrah special will leave New Delhi at 7.30 a.m. on 8 December to reach Howrah at 1.30 p.m. on the next day.
Another train, 04460 New Delhi -Howrah special, left New Delhi at 6.15 p.m. today to reach Howrah at 11.30 p.m. on the next day and 04459 Howrah -New Delhi special will leave Howrah at 1.30 a.m. on 8 December to reach New Delhi at 8.20 a.m.
A third train under the Eastern Railway is to be operated from Sealdah. The 03127 Sealdah -Lokmanyatilak special left Sealdah at 11.10 p.m. today to reach Lokmanyatilak at 3.30 p.m. on the third day and 03128 Lokmanya tilak – Sealdah special will leave Lokmanyatilak at 6.30 a.m. on 9 December to reach Sealdah at 7.30 p.m. on the next day.
Likewise, the South Eastern Railway has also announced three special trains in response to the recent cancellation of Indigo flights, to manage the surge in passenger demand. The SER is to operate 08073 Santragachi-Yelahanka Special which will leave Santragachi on 7 December at 2.45 p.m. and will reach Yelahanka at 12.55 a.m. the third day. In the return direction, 08074 Yelahanka-Santragachi Special will leave Yelahanka on 9 December at 4.45 a.m. and will arrive at Santragachi at 2 p.m, the next day. To cater to the demand for the Kolkata Mumbai route, the SER is to run 02870 Howrah-CSMT Mumbai Special which leaves Howrah today at 1.55 p.m. and reaches CSMT Mumbai at 11.45 p.m, the next day. The third train of the SER, 07148 Cherlapalli-Shalimar Special, was run from Cherlapalli today at 9.35 p.m. and reached Shalimar at 11.50 p.m, the next day.