NEW DELHI, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The state-owned Indian Railways will run as many as 40 special trains over the next one month to meet the passenger rush during the ongoing festive season in the country, officials said Wednesday.
"These 40 special trains will undertake 400 trips in the next one month, particularly in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and the eastern states of West Bengal and Bihar. These trains are likely to ferry an additional one million passengers," a railway official said.
While Durga Puja is being celebrated in West Bengal, Chhath Puja is in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This festive season will continue till Diwali, the festival of lights, next month.
"All arrangements have been made for security and basic amenities for passengers," he added.
The Indian Railways is one of the world's largest train networks, criss-crossing the country from north to south. It operates some 9,000 passenger trains and carries nearly 23 million passengers every day.
This vast public enterprise can be referred to as a semi-state. It runs schools, hospitals, has it own police force and construction companies, and has 1.3 million people on its payroll, making it the seventh biggest employer in the world.
In 2015, the Indian government pledged 137 billion U.S. dollars over five years to modernize and expand the railways.
