Why are Onam special trains running empty? Special trains for festival week

Certain special trains to Kerala from Tamil Nadu, which were announced at the last minute by the railway on Saturday night, ran with empty seats. The special trains ran empty even when hundreds of tickets in regular trains are on the waiting list, as they are often announced at the last minute. More than 800 seats were vacant in the special train from Chennai Central to Thiruvananthapuram North at 12.45 pm on Sunday. The railway announced the train only at 9 pm the previous night. Many could have reached home for Onam in this train if the railway had announced it at least a week earlier.

Villupuram – Udna special train, which passes through the northern districts, starts at 12.34 pm from Tambaram. More than 500 seats remain vacant in this train too. Many people had cancelled their trip to Kerala because there were no tickets available to the Malabar region during the Onam season. Although the tickets in most trains to Kerala during the Onam season were sold out in July itself, the railway, as usual, announced the special train only at the last moment. As of now, railways have announced 95 special trains for the Onam week. Here are the details.

Special trains in Onam week (Sept 1 to 9)
Chennai Central (MAS) side - 2 trips
1)T.No.06119(MAS-Kollam(QLN))-03/09/25-1 trip
2)T.No.06120(QLN-MAS)-04/09/25-1 trip

Mangaluru Central (MAQ) side-14 trips
1)T.No.06041[MAJN (Mangaluru Junction) – TVCN(Thiruvananthapuram North Railway Station)] -04/08/25, 06/09/25 - 2 trips
2)T.No.06942(TVCN-MAJN)-05/09/25, 07/09/25-2 trips
3)T.No.06047(MAJN-QLN)-01/09/25, 08/09/25-2 trips
4)T.No.06048(QLN-MAJN)-02/09/25, 09/09/24-2 trips

5)T.No.06163(TVCN-MAJN)-01/09/25, 08/09/25-2 trips
6)T.No.06164(MAJN-TVCN)-02/09/25, 09/09/25-2 trips
7)T.No.06010(MAQ-TVCN)-02/09/25-1 trip
8)T.No.06137(TVCN-UDN(Udhna)-01/09/25-1 trip

SBC (KSR Bengaluru City Junction) side-6 trips
1)T.No.06523[SMVB (Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal, Bengaluru ) - TVCN)-01/09/25, 08/09/25-2 trips
2)T.No.06524(TVCN-SMVB)-02/09/25, 09/09/24-2 trips
3)T.No.06547(SMVB-TVCN)-03/09/25-1 trip
4)T.No.06548(TVCN-SMVB)-04/09/25-1 trip

SER (South Eastern Railway ) side-5 trips
1)T.No.06085[ERS (Ernakulam Junction) -PNBE(Patna Junction, Bihar)]-05/09/25-1 trip
2)T.No.06086(PNBE-ERS)-01/09/25, 08/09/25-2 trips
3)T.No.06081[TVCN-SRC(Santragachi Jn, West Bengal)]-05/09/25-1 trip
4)T.No.06082(SRC-TVCN)-08/09/25-1 trip

SCR (South Central Railway) side-5 trips
1)T.No.07193[HYB (Hyderabad Deccan Nampally railway station) - QLN)-06/09/25-1 trip
2)T.No.07194(QLN-HYB)-01/09/25, 08/09/25-2 trips
3)T.No.07230[(HYB-CAPE(Kanyakumari railway station)]-03/09/25-1 trip
4)T.No.07229(CAPE-HYB)-05/09/25-1 trip
Total 32 trips

Trains with extra coaches
In addition to the introduction of special trains, 10 trains have already been permitted to undergo temporary coach augmentation. More regular trains, such as
1. Train No. 12696 Thiruvananthapuram Central – MGR Chennai Central Superfast Express
2. Train No. 12695 MGR Chennai Central – Thiruvananthapuram Central Superfast
3. Train No. 22639 MGR Chennai – Alappuzha Express
4. Train No. 22640 Alappuzha – Chennai Express
5. Train No. 16187 Karaikal – Ernakulam Junction Express
6. Train No. 16188 Ernakulam Junction – Karaikal Express
will have extra coaches in the Onam season for the convenience of passengers.