Fact checkRailways
Vaishnaw's claim of 18,000 festive specials against 12,000 last year is mostly true
The Railways' own count for last year's festive season was 12,383 special train trips, so the comparison holds. But the figures count trips, not separate trains, and this year's number is still a plan.
The claim
Indian Railways is running about 18,000 special trains this festive season, against about 12,000 last year.
Claim by: Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Railway Minister
Seen on: Remarks to reporters at New Delhi Railway Station, November 6, 2026, widely reported, first seen November 6, 2026
Verdict: Mostly true
- True
- Mostly true
- Misleading
- False
What we found
The claim is mostly true. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday, November 6, 2026, while reviewing the Dhanteras crowds at New Delhi Railway Station, that Indian Railways is running about 18,000 special trains this festive season against about 12,000 last year.
The Railways’ own figures back the comparison. Last year’s festive specials, run between October 1 and November 30, 2025, came to 12,383 special train trips, so “about 12,000” is accurate and 18,000 would be roughly 45% more. Two caveats keep this short of fully true: the numbers count trips, not separate trains, and this year’s figure is a plan, not a final count.
The evidence
Last year’s number
On October 21, 2025, the Railways said it was operating “more than 12 thousand special trains” for Diwali and Chhath, up from 7,724 in the same period a year earlier. Two days before that, the minister had spoken of “about 12 thousand” at the same New Delhi station. The ministry’s year-end figures settled the total at 12,383 trips for October 1 to November 30, 2025.
Trips, not trains
The ministry’s own tallies speak of special train trips. A trip is one run of a service, so a special that runs on twenty days is counted twenty times. Saying “18,000 special trains” suggests 18,000 different trains, which is not what the figure measures. The 2025 baseline is counted the same way, so the comparison between the two years still stands.
This year’s figure is a plan
No release from the ministry giving the 18,000 festive figure, or the dates it covers, has been published. The season is not over: Diwali falls on Sunday and the Chhath rush is still ahead. The final count for 2026 will only be known after the season, as it was last year.
The scale fits this year’s other seasons
The jump is in line with how the Railways planned this year’s summer rush. In April 2026 the minister said it would run over 18,000 summer special train trips up to July 15, against 12,417 in the summer of 2025. A rise of about half over the previous year is now the pattern for peak seasons.
Why this claim spread
The festive exodus from Delhi, Mumbai and other cities is the hardest test of the year for the railways, and crowding at big stations has led to dangerous crushes in past seasons. A headline number of 18,000 trains is the ministry’s answer to that worry, and it was carried widely on Dhanteras evening. The number is sound. Readers should simply know that it counts runs of special services and that the season’s real total comes later.
The documents
- Indian Railways to run over 12,000 special trains during festive seasonNews On AIR, October 21, 2025
- Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inspects festive rush management at New Delhi stationNews On AIR, October 19, 2025