Indian Railways adds extra coaches and special trains amid IndiGo flight cancellations

Passengers at Terminal 3 (T3) of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi amid crisis. Pic/PTI

Amid the ongoing air-travel crisis across the country, IndiGo, since the last five days, has cancelled a total of 405 domestic flights. However, Indian Railways stepped in to help the harassed passengers by adding extra coaches to its trains to accommodate the rush of people.

With a daily operation of 2,300 flights and a fleet exceeding 400 aircraft, IndiGo's punctuality has drastically declined due to ongoing operational issues that are likely to persist for several more days, reported by news agency IANS.

The root of the current crisis primarily lies in an unexpected shortage of pilots due to planning shortcomings, and authorities are closely monitoring the situation.

Scenes of total disarray have occurred at airports nationwide as IndiGo's domestic passengers voiced their frustration over delays and cancellations of their flights.

Amid a sharp rise in passenger demand following widespread IndiGo flight cancellations, the Indian Railways has stepped in. Taking cognisance of the worsening travelling situation in the country, railways has deployed 116 additional coaches across 37 premium trains, covering 114 enhanced trips nationwide, easing the congestion at the airports across the country.

The Railway Ministry, while assessing the ongoing crisis while issuing a statement, said that "Southern Railway recorded the highest number of augmentations, increasing capacity in 18 trains," as cited by news agency IANS.

The statement also added, "Additional Chair Car and Sleeper Class coaches have been deployed on high-demand routes. These augmentations, implemented from 6 December 2025 onwards, substantially expand accommodation capacity in the southern region, as per IANS.

While highlighting more about the addition of extra coaches in trains, the Ministry of Railways also said, "Northern Railway (NR) follows with augmentations on eight trains, adding 3AC and Chair Car coaches. These measures implemented from today onwards enhance availability on heavily travelled northern corridors."

According to the ministry, Western Railway has also strengthened four high-demand trains with the addition of 3AC and 2AC coaches, effective from December 6, to accommodate heavy passenger movement from western states to the national capital.

Furthermore, the officials have also confirmed that East Central Railway has increased capacity on the Rajendra Nagar-New Delhi (12309) service by adding 2AC coaches over five trips scheduled between December 6 and 10. The initiative by the East Central Railway will improve the connectivity on the crucial Bihar-Delhi route.

East Coast Railway has also augmented the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi services (Trains 20817/20811/20823) by adding 2AC coaches across five trips, enhancing travel options between Odisha and the capital, reported IANS.

Speaking to the media about the ongoing situation, Indian Railway Board Executive Director of Information and Publicity (EDIP) Dilip Kumar further said, "Considering the rush of passengers, Indian Railways has decided to add extra coaches to several trains. In addition, plans have been made to operate several special trains. So far, 116 extra coaches are planned to be added to 37 trains, and work is underway accordingly," as cited by news agency IANS.

Special trains

Along with these augmentations, four special train services have been introduced to further assist travellers. The Gorakhpur-Anand Vihar Terminal-Gorakhpur Special (05591/05592) will operate four trips between December 7 and 9.

Furthermore, the New Delhi-Martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan-New Delhi Reserved Vande Bharat Special (02439/02440) will run on December 6, offering fast connectivity to the Jammu region.

To accommodate high demand towards the western sector, the New Delhi-Mumbai Central-New Delhi Reserved Superfast Special (04002/04001) will operate on December 6 and 7.

Additionally, the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Thiruvananthapuram Central Reserved Superfast Special (04080) will run one way on December 6, providing long-distance connectivity to the south.

(With inputs from IANS)