6 Things You Should Never Carry on Trains This Diwali
If you’ve travelled by train around Diwali, you already know what it feels like — platforms packed with families, people rushing with mithai boxes, children waving from windows, and the smell of tea mixing with diesel fumes. That’s the charm of Indian festive travel.
Amid this Diwali rush, Indian Railways has laid out strict guidelines by prohibiting certain items on trains. If you are travelling on trains during this Diwali festivity make sure that you do not carry these items with you.
Six Things That Have No Place on a Train
These are the Six items that Indian Railways has strictly prohibited to carry on trains.
- Firecrackers: A single spark can turn a festive trip into a disaster. Even unlit fireworks can ignite if there’s friction. Railways have completely banned carrying any type — be it sparklers, rockets, or small bombs.
- Kerosene Oil: Although not used much by the affluent, Kerosene oil is still used by the lower economic groups. A small leak of this can turn disastrous and hence Railways prohibited this item.
- Gas Cylinders: Irrespective of the size, Gas cylinders are high risk items to carry on trains. Even a small leak can turn hazardous in a closely packed space such as trains.
- Stoves or Burners: Cooking inside the trains is strictly banned. This must be common sense, but yet Railways are not taking any chances this Diwali. If you need food in train, instead of risking everyone’s life you can choose RailMitra’s tasty, safe and quick train food delivery.
- Matchboxes: A simple matchstick can be risky when you’re surrounded by clothes, bags, and paper boxes.
- Cigarettes or Other Smoking Items: Apart from posing significant health risks to the smoker, smoking can be dangerous even for the passengers. Smoking in trains is also a punishable offence under the Indian Railways.
The idea behind these restrictions is straightforward — if it burns, smokes, or leaks, it’s better left at home.
The Importance of Diwali Restrictions
The advisory by the Indian Railways was carried out with the passenger’s welfare at the forefront. Diwali and Chhath are high crowd travel seasons where stations remain full while trains overflows with passengers.
The high rush situation is already a big challenge for Railways to overcome. In such situations Railways doesn’t want to take any chances or leave anything to uncertainty. These items if mishandled can turn the situation from bad and bush to a Hazard.
Although, these items should be refrained from trains by passenger’s common sense. Still, many incidents of passengers bringing these items to the train’s surfaced. As a response Railways let out the advisory leaving nothing for speculation.
Additional Precautionary Measures this Festive Season
Railways aim behind this advisory wasn’t just to ban certain items but to make the passengers aware towards their civic responsibilities. Even small steps of awareness and active mindedness can prevent a big mishap:
- If you see something odd — like smoke, an unattended bag, or anyone behaving suspiciously — immediately inform RPF or GRP personnel. They’re present on almost every train and platform, especially during festivals.
- Try to carry only what you need. Overpacking complicates travel in an already crowded train. Try to keep your essentials such as mobile, purse, documents and bags close to yourself.
- Also, skip carrying too much cash. Carrying cash is risky as well as luggage increasing. Use UPI or online payments methods as most of the vendors accept such payments.
- Families travelling with kids or elderly members should stick together while boarding or deboarding — stations can get confusing when the crowd surges.
- Announcements from railway staff are more reliable than word of mouth. So, listen carefully and avoid acting on random passenger advice about delays or platform changes.
Use RailMitra for a Comfortable Festive Journey
If you are travelling on a train this festive journey, you can use RailMitra services to make your journey even more comfortable. Here are some of the services:
- Check PNR Status: During this high rush season, it is difficult to get a Confirmed train ticket. You can check your live booking status with the help of RailMitra’s PNR Status check service to see if it has been confirmed or not.
- Live train running status: If you want to know the exact location or the delays in train then you can use live train running status. This status tracks the movements of the train and provides the information to us. With this service you can also find the Platform Number on which the train will arrive at the station.
- Train Seat Availability: If you want to book a train ticket the first step to this is to look for available seats. RailMitra’s train seat availability service helps us to find the number of seats available for booking on trains.
The Real Takeaway
Festivals are more families to come together and enjoy, not a time to create tragedies. Indian Railways is completely justified in prohibiting these to be carried on trains.
During Diwali people use different methods to light their homes. When travelling many passengers think why not carry these items on trains? However, we need to understand that safety should be our first priority this Diwali.
Before you close your suitcase, please do a check whether you are carrying any of the mentioned prohibited items. If you are, it is better to keep it at your home.
Travel safe, make memories and enjoy to the fullest in this festival of lights. Happy Diwali!