Southern Railway Achieves Highest Passenger Occupancy on Special Trains in FY 2025-26

Southern Railway has emerged as the best-performing railway zone in India in terms of passenger occupancy on special trains during the 2025-26 financial year, according to an official release issued on Saturday.

During the financial year, Southern Railway operated 2,513 trips covering 229 special train services, carrying 32.98 lakh passengers and generating ₹243.22 crore in revenue.

The railway zone recorded an average occupancy of 1,312 passengers per special train trip, significantly higher than the Indian Railways` national average of 894 passengers per trip, making it the top-performing zone in this key operational efficiency indicator.

Special Trains Managed Peak Travel Demand

A major share of the special train operations was focused on Southern Railway routes, South Western Railway sectors, and long-distance inter-zonal corridors. These services helped manage seasonal passenger demand and reduce waiting lists on regular trains.

Special trains were operated on high-demand routes connecting:

- Southern Tamil Nadu

- Kerala

- Bengaluru

- Andhra Pradesh

- Telangana

- Eastern India

- Western India

- Northern India

In addition to reserved special trains, Southern Railway also introduced unreserved special train services to meet the increasing travel demand.

SMS Alerts for Waitlisted Passengers

Southern Railway continuously monitored waitlisted passengers, reservation trends, travel demand, and occupancy levels on major routes, including Chennai–Kanyakumari and Chennai–Thiruvananthapuram.

Whenever a special train was announced, passengers holding waitlisted tickets on regular trains for the same route received SMS notifications informing them about the availability of the special train. This initiative helped passengers find alternative travel options, reduced waiting lists, and improved occupancy on special train services.

The strong performance highlights Southern Railway`s effective planning and efficient management of passenger traffic during peak travel seasons while ensuring better travel opportunities for passengers across the country.