A file picture of the rush on Tata-Chhapra Express at Tatanagar railway station

South Eastern Railway (SER) will run a special train between Tatanagar in Jamshedpur and Bihar’s Chhapra on Saturday to cope with the rush ahead of Chhath.

A spokesperson of Garden Reach, the Calcutta-based headquarters of SER, said the special train (08181) would leave Tatanagar station at 9.15pm and reach Chhapra at 1.15pm the next day. On its return journey, the train (08182) will leave Chhapra at 3.30pm on Sunday and arrive at Tatanagar at 7am on Monday.

Comprising 11 coaches (AC-2 tier: 1, AC-3 tier: 1, sleeper class-5, general second class: 2 and luggage van-2), it will make halts at Chandil, Purulia, Joychandipahar, Asansol, Chittaranjan, Madhupur, Jasidih, Jhajha, Kiul, Barauni, Samastipur, Muzaffarpur and Hajipur stations between Tatanagar and Chhapra.

Tatanagar station manager Awtar Singh said keeping in view the rush of passengers headed for Bihar during Chhath, a request had been made to the Garden Reach headquarters to make special arrangements and also provide additional coaches to some Bihar-bound trains.

“Apart from this special train, additional coaches will be provided to Tata-Chhapra Express till October 31. Reserved seats in Bihar-bound trains are no longer available. Some train are showing are no-room status while in others, the waiting lists have crossed the 200 mark,” he said.

An official of the railway’s commercial department added that they had also requested additional coaches for Tata-Patna South Bihar Express, which go packed at this time of the year. “We are waiting for the nod,” he said.

This year, Chhath will be celebrated on October 29 and 30. Thousands of people from the steel city and other places visit Bihar to celebrate the festival with their families, causing trains to go chock-a-block.

“It’s impossible to find a vacant berth even if one books tickets well in advance,” said Singh.

Earlier, the Chotanagpur Passengers’ Association and Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry had also urged the railways to either introduce special trains or provide additional coaches to cope with the festive rush.

Not only trains, long-distance buses also go packed during Chhath.