Festive season sees 1.5 crore passengers, may cross 2.5 crore, says Railway Minister

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday (October 25, 2025) said that close to 1.5 crore passengers had already travelled during this festive season, and the figure was likely to cross 2.5 crore by its end.

At an interaction with reporters in New Delhi, Mr. Vaishnaw said that during Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure as Railway Minister (2004-2009), just about 178 special trains were run in Deepavali-Chhath, and the number now exceeded 13,000. He said that large holding areas have been set up at 30 railway stations for smoother crowd management.

“The safety of the railways has improved. The number of accidents has reduced from over 170 in 2014 to just 31 in 2024-25. Our aim is to bring it down further and make rail travel safer,” he said.

Mr. Vaishnaw’s remarks came on a day when the Congress accused the Narendra Modi government of deceiving people in Bihar by not fulfilling its promise to run 12,000 special trains during the festive season, with the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, asserting that helpless travellers are being forced to undertake “inhuman” journeys.

The party alleged that despite claims made ahead of the State elections, only around 1,500 trains were operated, leaving thousands of passengers stranded or forced to travel in unsafe conditions.

Mr. Gandhi said that trains to Bihar were “packed beyond capacity,” making the journey “inhuman”. “This is a month of festivals — Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Chhath — when people long to return home to their families. But trains are overcrowded, tickets are impossible to get, and people are hanging onto doors and roofs. Where are the 12,000 special trains?” he said in a post on X.

Mr. Gandhi said that if employment and dignity existed in Bihar, people would not have to travel thousands of kilometres in search of work. “These are not helpless travellers but living proof of the NDA’s deceitful policies. Safe and respectable travel is a right, not a favour,” he added.

At a press conference in Delhi, Congress MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh accused Mr. Modi of “lying to the people” before the polls. “There was relief when Modi and the Railway Minister announced 12,000 trains. But only 1,500 were run. This is yet another betrayal towards Bihar,” he said.

Party spokesperson Abhay Dubey said the NDA had “played with the faith” of people during Chhath Puja. “While Modi and BJP leaders fly in aircraft worth thousands of crores, common people are forced to travel on dangerously overcrowded trains,” he said, adding that voters would “teach them a lesson.”

The Ministry of Railways, however, said it had scheduled 12,011 special train trips between October 1 and November 30, averaging 196 services daily to meet the festive rush. Officials said all available coaches were mobilised, including repaired ones, to ensure passengers could reach home for the festivals.

The BJP has maintained that the Centre has worked extensively to improve connectivity. The controversy comes as Bihar heads to Assembly elections on November 6 and 11, with results to be declared on November 14.