India

Indian Railways to Close Reservation Counters in Delhi-NCR on Diwali Sunday

By Anish Mondal

Indian Railways will close Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters at several locations across the Delhi‑NCR region on Sunday, 8 November 2026, in observance of Diwali. The closure will vary by site: some counters will operate only in the morning shift, while others will remain closed for the entire day. The Northern Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, confirmed that PRS counters will be shut on the festival day. Partial service for Computerised Passenger Reservation Offices will be available until 18:00 hrs in the evening shift at the IRCA Building, Delhi Junction, and Hazrat Nizamuddin Reservation Offices. The following offices will be closed from 14:00 to 20:00 hrs: Sarojini Nagar, Kirti Nagar, Shakur Basti, Delhi Shahdara, Ghaziabad, Karkardooma, Okhla, Noida, Tughlakabad, Sabzi Mandi, Adarsh Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Rohini, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and the International Tourist Bureau (IRCA Building). Offices such as Parliament House, Press Club of India, Railway Board, Supreme Court, High Court, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and the Northern Railway headquarters will be closed for the whole day. The railway zone has increased the number of special train trips by about 30 per cent for the festive season, planning to operate more than 6,200 special trips this year compared with 4,666 last year. Of the planned trips, 2,600 will run on 42 newly regularised trains, and an additional 3,600 special trips have already been announced. The routes include Delhi‑Patna Vande Bharat, Shakur Basti‑Darbhanga, Mata Vaishno Devi‑Varanasi, Chandigarh‑Patna, Anand Vihar‑Patliputra, New Delhi‑Howrah, Kolkata‑Yog Nagari Rishikesh, Amritsar‑Barauni, New Delhi‑Danapur, Delhi‑Kamakhya, Delhi‑Gaya, and Amritsar‑Jaynagar.