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In the wake of widespread IndiGo flight cancellations and disruptions across the country, Northern Railway has stepped in to ease passenger woes by adding extra coaches to popular services and running special trains to high-demand destinations.
Speaking to ANI, Northern Railway Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay said the zone has attached additional coaches to key Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains and introduced special services to Sabarmati, Mumbai, Howrah, Patna, Darbhanga, and Thiruvananthapuram to address the surge in travel demand. "We have a dedicated team that tracks which stations and destinations are being searched and clicked the most. Taking demand into consideration, we run trains and attach extra coaches where required," Upadhyay said, adding that passenger trends are being closely monitored to ensure adequate capacity across key sectors. Responding to the surge in travel, Northern Railway has strengthened several premier services. Upadhyay added, "Following a recent increase in demand, Northern Railway has attached additional coaches to the Jammu-Delhi Rajdhani and the Dibrugarh Rajdhani, including Third AC coaches. The Amritsar Shatabdi and Chandigarh Shatabdi have also been provided with extra AC Chair Car coaches. In addition, we are operating special trains connecting Sabarmati, Mumbai, Howrah, Patna, Darbhanga, and Thiruvananthapuram. Our objective is to meet the excess demand and provide comfort to passengers..." Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) took serious note of concerns regarding unusually high airfares charged by certain airlines during the ongoing disruption, according to a Ministry of Civil Aviation release. In order to protect passengers from any form of opportunistic pricing, the Ministry has invoked its regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes. An official directive has been issued to all airlines mandating strict adherence to the fare caps that have now been prescribed. These caps will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises. The objective of this directive is to maintain pricing discipline in the market, prevent any exploitation of passengers in distress, and ensure that citizens who urgently need to travel, including senior citizens, students, and patients, are not subjected to financial hardship during this period. The release stated that the Ministry will continue to closely monitor fare levels through real-time data and active coordination with airlines and online travel platforms. Any deviation from the prescribed norms will attract immediate corrective action in the larger public interest. (ANI)
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