29 Indian summer specials

Indian Railways has added 29 summer special train services for April, while Southern Railway is starting extra weekly runs from Chennai to Santragachi and Mumbai from April 20. (indiatoday.in) (sr.indianrailways.gov.in) India Today reported on April 15 that the 29 added services are aimed at handling April holiday demand on Andhra Pradesh routes through the end of the month. Southern Railway’s press-release archive for April 13 and April 14 shows a parallel wave of summer special announcements from Chennai-area stations. (indiatoday.in) (sr.indianrailways.gov.in) One Chennai-Santragachi service will leave Dr. M.G.R. Chennai Central at 11:45 p.m. on April 20 and April 27 and reach Santragachi at 7:45 a.m. on the third day. The return train will leave Santragachi at 10:45 a.m. on April 22 and April 29 and arrive at Chennai Beach at 7:30 p.m. the next day. (newindianexpress.com) A second eastern corridor service will leave Tambaram at 10:15 a.m. on April 21 and April 28 and reach Santragachi at 6:30 p.m. the next day. Southern Railway said advance reservation booking for these trains is open. (newindianexpress.com) (sr.indianrailways.gov.in) On the Mumbai route, the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-Chennai Central special will leave Mumbai at 12:20 p.m. on Sundays from April 19 to June 7 and reach Chennai at 11:30 p.m. the same day. The return service will leave Chennai at 4 a.m. on Mondays from April 20 to June 8 and reach Mumbai at 4:15 a.m. the next day. (newindianexpress.com) Indian Railways uses summer specials as temporary extra trains, usually with fixed dates or weekly schedules, to absorb school-vacation and festival traffic when regular trains fill up. India Today reported a similar surge during Holi this year, when even added trains built up waiting lists on busy routes. (trainhelp.in) (indiatoday.in) The April announcements show how that pressure is spread across regions, not just one corridor. Southern Railway listed separate summer-special notices this month for Chennai-Santragachi, Tambaram-Santragachi, Mumbai-Chennai, Nagercoil-Shalimar, Bengaluru-Dr. M.G.R. Chennai Central, and other routes. (sr.indianrailways.gov.in) Other zones are doing the same. Central Railway said this week that it is adding summer services from Mumbai to Banaras, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai between April and July 2026, with weekly and bi-weekly schedules from Mumbai terminals. (freepressjournal.in) For passengers, the immediate change is simple: more bookable seats on a few of the country’s busiest long-distance corridors, starting this weekend and continuing into June. (newindianexpress.com) (sr.indianrailways.gov.in)