{
  "id": 7080889,
  "title": "Diwali, Chhath Puja train chaos: IRCTC shows ‘high load’, ‘regret’; Railways announce special trains, check schedule",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/diwali-chhath-puja-train-chaos-irctc-shows-high-load-regret-railways",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-13T07:09:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Mint",
    "slug": "live-mint",
    "url": "https://www.livemint.com/news/india/diwali-chhath-puja-train-chaos-irctc-shows-high-load-regret-railways-announce-special-trains-check-schedule-11789281381097.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As Diwali and Chhath Puja approaches, many social media users have reported difficulty in booking train tickets to travel home, particularly to Bihar. Some users experienced a \"high load\" error or a \"regret\" message while attempting to book tickets on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website. One user wrote to Union Railway Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw expressing frustration with the system, questioning how passengers are expected to get home during festivals if booking tickets is so unreliable.\n\nIn response to the complaints, Indian Railways has announced special trains to help facilitate travel for those traveling from major cities like Delhi to stations in Bihar. These festival special trains will operate between September 16 and November 30. The East Central Railway announced the full schedule of 16 such trains on September 9, with some running weekly, others biweekly, and a few daily. The trains will run from over a dozen major cities including Delhi, Chandigarh, Firozpur Cantt, and Rishikesh to various stations in Bihar, with stops at key locations like Patna Junction, Patliputra Junction, Muzaffarpur, and Jogbani.\n\nSome notable special trains include:\n1. A daily train from Delhi to Sitamarhi on Thursdays from October 15 to November 19.\n2. A Saturday service from Sitamarhi to Delhi from October 17 to November 21.\n3. A Sunday service from Rishikesh to Muzaffarpur, running until November 29, with a return Monday service from Muzaffarpur to Rishikesh from October 5 to November 30.\n4. A weekly train from Chandigarh to Patna on Thursdays from October 1 to November 26, and a weekly return from Patna to Chandigarh on Fridays from October 2 to November 27.\n5. A Saturday service from Firozpur Cantt to Patna from October 6 to November 24, and a Wednesday return from Patna to Firozpur Cantt from October 7 to November 25.\n6. A Saturday and Tuesday/Friday service from Anand Vihar to Jogbani from October 10 to November 24, with a Wednesday and Saturday return from Jogbani to Anand Vihar from October 14 to November 25.\n7. A daily Anand Vihar to Patliputra train from October 1 to November 29, with a Patliputra to Anand Vihar return daily from October 2 to November 30.\n8. Daily Anand Vihar to Laukha Bazaar and Laukha Bazaar to Anand Vihar services from September 16 to November 29, and September 17 to November 30 respectively.",
  "summary": "The East Central Railway announced the full schedule of 16 festival special trains. Some of these trains will be weekly, while others will run biweekly. Some of them will also run on daily bases.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}