Surat: Western Railway operated eight Holi special trains from Udhna railway station on Sunday, marking the highest single-day passenger movement from Surat, with around 20,000 travellers heading to their hometowns for the festival.Extensive arrangements were made to ensure smooth operations and prevent overcrowding or stampede-like situations.The first special train, the Udhna–Jayanagar service, departed at 3.30am carrying nearly 4,000 passengers. Other special trains were operated to destinations including Jayanagar, Hasanpur, Thave, Brahmpur and Raxaul, catering mainly to passengers travelling to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Western Railway set up a dedicated holding area with a capacity of 4,000 passengers at a time, along with an additional temporary tented holding zone for overflow. Security arrangements were also strengthened, with the deployment of more than 250 RPF and GRP personnel for crowd management and passenger safety. To ease ticketing, four additional booking counters were opened and Mobile UTS services were enhanced.
