Railways added 11 more Diwali special trains, including a New Delhi–Patna Vande Bharat till Nov 25. Full list of special trains plus IRCTC Tatkal tips inside.Updated: October 16, 2026, 10:15 AM IST## Quick Read- Railways added 11 more pairs of festival specials on Thursday, taking East Central Railway’s count to 23 pairs.- A New Delhi–Patna Vande Bharat special runs October 16 to November 25.- Tickets on Delhi–Patna and Delhi–Gorakhpur routes are selling out in 15–30 minutes — Tatkal timing and strategy below.Diwali is on November 8, and the trains home are already full. On Thursday, Railways added 11 more pairs of festival special trains to handle the rush — and if you’re travelling to Bihar or eastern UP, you need to move fast. Tickets on the busiest corridors are vanishing within 15 to 30 minutes of booking opening.## The new specials, route by routeThe 11 new pairs were announced by East Central Railway, taking its festival-special count to 23 pairs. Here are the confirmed routes, per ETInfra’s report:- **Hubballi–Muzaffarpur** weekly special — runs till November 24- **Yeshwantpur (Bengaluru)–Saharsa** weekly special — runs till November 29- **Nagpur–Samastipur** weekly special — October 21 to November 11- **Amritsar–Muzaffarpur** weekly special — October 19 to December 1- **Narangi (Guwahati)–Gorakhpur** special — October 16 to November 29, via Katihar, Barauni, Hajipur and Chhapra- **Tatanagar–Buxar** weekly special — runs till November 25- **Anand Vihar Terminal–Bhagalpur** special — runs daily till November 26- **Yog Nagari Rishikesh–Kolkata** special — October 16 to November 22- **Udhna (Surat)–Jaynagar** special — October 18 to November 27Separately, a **New Delhi–Patna Vande Bharat special** runs from October 16 to November 25 — the premium option on the capital’s busiest festive corridor. The announcement detailed nine routes; the remaining pairs are in ECR’s full press note with complete timetables.One thing to understand: these 23 pairs are only East Central Railway’s. Other zones publish their own special-train lists separately, so the all-India number is bigger. Before assuming nothing runs on your route, check your own zone’s announcements — Northern, Western and Southern Railway lists come out on their own schedules.Also read: [₹10 lakh cover on counter railway tickets](https://indiapresents.in/railway-counter-ticket-insurance-guide/)## Why tickets vanish in minutesThe Diwali–Chhath window is the hardest ticket season of the year. Native Planet’s reporting on this year’s rush documents 15–30 minute sellouts on the Delhi–Patna and Delhi–Gorakhpur corridors — not hours, minutes. Regular trains filled weeks ago; the specials are the second chance, and everyone knows it.Special trains also behave differently from regular ones. They often don’t appear in a default IRCTC search — you have to look under the special-trains listing or search by the train number from the zone’s announcement. And their schedules can change, so re-check the running days before you plan around one.## The corridors that fill firstECR’s chief public relations officer Saraswati Chandra said the new services target routes connecting Bihar with Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities — and those are exactly the corridors that fill first. Delhi–Patna, Delhi–Gorakhpur, Mumbai–Muzaffarpur and Surat–Jaynagar carry the heaviest migrant-worker and student traffic of the season. If your route is one of these, treat every booking window as a Tatkal-style race, even for advance reservations. The quieter routes — Nagpur–Samastipur, Rishikesh–Kolkata — give you slightly more breathing room, but not much.## Tatkal: the actual playbookTatkal booking opens one day before the journey date (excluding the travel date itself). **AC classes open at 10:00 AM, non-AC and sleeper at 11:00 AM.** Here’s how to not lose the race:**Before 10 AM.** Log in to IRCTC by 9:50 and stay logged in. Save your passengers in the IRCTC master list beforehand — typing names and ages at 10:01 is how you lose. Keep your payment method ready: UPI or a saved card is faster than netbanking.**At opening time.** Have the train and class selected, hit book the second the window opens, and do not refresh a hanging page — a refresh usually means starting over at the back of the queue. One device, one browser tab, full focus.**If you miss it.** Check the Vikalp scheme box while booking — it lets Railways move you to an alternate train on the same route if your waitlist doesn’t clear, at no extra charge. And keep checking: festival cancellations do happen, and a waitlisted ticket can confirm in the final hours.Also read: [Chhath Puja 2026: date, timings, rituals](https://indiapresents.in/chhath-puja-2026-date-timings-rituals-guide/)## How to check a special train’s scheduleSpecial trains don’t behave like regular ones on IRCTC — a default search often won’t show them. Three ways that work: search by the train number from the zone’s announcement; check the NTES app or website, which lists specials with their running days; or look for your zone’s press note (ECR, Northern, Western and Southern Railway each publish their own). Always re-check the running days before planning — specials get extended, curtailed or rescheduled far more often than regular trains. Screenshot the timetable when you find it; special-train pages have a habit of moving.## The Vande Bharat special, explainedThe New Delhi–Patna Vande Bharat special is the premium pick on the capital’s busiest festive corridor — and we now have its full schedule. It runs as train numbers 02252 (New Delhi to Patna) and 02251 (return), via Prayagraj, covering 998 km in about 13 hours with AC Chair Car and Executive Chair Car seating, the Indian Express reported.02252 leaves New Delhi on October 16 and 18, then runs every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from October 21 to November 25. The return, 02251, leaves Patna on October 17 and 19, then every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from October 22 to November 26. Eighteen trips each way — 36 in total. If budget matters more than speed, the Anand Vihar–Bhagalpur daily special covers a similar catchment at ordinary fares.## Don’t forget the return tripDiwali is November 8, but Chhath follows right after — and the return rush is just as brutal as the onward one. If you’re booking an onward special now, book your return in the same sitting. Return-direction specials run on the same announcements — expect the same pressure in reverse in the post-Chhath window. A confirmed onward ticket with a waitlisted return is half a plan.One more safety net worth knowing: even counter-bought tickets now carry insurance cover up to ₹10 lakh under the Supreme Court’s order — worth reading if you’re booking at the station instead of online.Also read: [Diwali 2026 date guide](https://indiapresents.in/diwali-2026-date-guide/)## FAQ**Which Diwali special trains are running in 2026?**East Central Railway alone is running 23 pairs, including the 11 pairs added October 15 — routes like Hubballi–Muzaffarpur, Yeshwantpur–Saharsa, Anand Vihar–Bhagalpur (daily) and Narangi–Gorakhpur — plus a New Delhi–Patna Vande Bharat special till November 25. Other zones publish their own lists.**When does Tatkal booking open for Diwali trains?**One day before the journey date: 10:00 AM for AC classes, 11:00 AM for non-AC and sleeper. Log in by 9:50, use the IRCTC master passenger list, and pay via UPI or a saved card.**What is the Vikalp scheme?**An opt-in IRCTC option that lets Railways shift you to an alternate train on the same route if your waitlisted ticket doesn’t confirm — at no extra charge. Always tick it on festival-date bookings.
Sunday, 4 October 2026 | New Delhi --°C | LIVE BREAKING NEWS
