Ahead of festive season, the Indian Railways on Tuesday announced that it will operate 392 festival special trains between October 20 and November 30.
The fare applicable for these services will be that applicable for special trains. "To clear the festive rush, Ministry of Railways has approved 196 pairs (392 trains) of “Festival Special” services over Indian Railways to be operated from 20th October 2020 to 30th November 2020. The fare for these Festival Special services shall be that applicable for special trains. Zonal Railways will notify their schedule well in advance," the Railway Ministry said in a statement.
The special trains will be run for destinations such as Kolkata, Patna, Varanasi, Lucknow among others to cater to the growing demand in the ensuing holiday period of Durga Puja, Dussehra, Diwali and Chhatt puja, it said. "These services as far as possible should be operated at a minimum speed of 55 KMPH so that they are superfast services," the Ministry of Railways stated.
Meanwhile, the Centre on Tuesday issued an order extending a subsidy of 50 per cent on transportation of notified fruits and vegetables through Kisan Rail trains, under its scheme titled 'Operation Greens - TOP to Total,' the Railway Ministry said.
Under the scheme approved in June, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) extended the Operation Greens Scheme from Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) to all fruits and vegetables (TOTAL) for a period of six months on a pilot basis as part the Centre's Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in May that 'Operation Green' will be expanded with an additional fund of Rs 500 crore and extended from tomatoes, onions and potatoes to all fruits and vegetables.
Here is a full list of the 196 pairs of festival special trains:
