Mumbai: 386 special trains run for Ganpati travel as stations see crowds

More than 2.5 lakh passengers have reserved tickets on Konkan-bound special trains for Ganpati travel, with another one lakh people expected to use unreserved services.

Railways are operating 386 special trains, including 258 Central Railway services, 64 Western Railway services, 58 Konkan Railway services and six South Central Railway services. Platforms and queues have been particularly busy during peak hours at CSMT, Dadar, Thane and Panvel, Central Railway officials said.

Railway Protection Force, Government Railway Police and local police personnel have been deployed for crowd control. Officials have asked security staff to watch for passengers locking coach doors from inside, which has prevented others from boarding at Thane and Panvel and delayed operations.

Unreserved tickets are available through the UTS system and RailOne app. Central Railway reservation counters will operate for half a day on Monday, following the Sunday schedule.

MSRTC operated 5,743 additional bus services from Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and other divisions between September 10 and 13. Travellers using the road route can also check the state’s planned Ganeshotsav highway diversions.