Flight Chaos: IndiGo Passengers Shift to Indian Railways Amid Cancellations and Overbooked Trains

Flight chaos pushes IndiGo passengers to Indian Railways; Vande Bharat, Rajdhani, specials see heavy rush and long waitlists Stranded IndiGo flyers are scrambling for seats on Vande Bharat, Rajdhani and special trains as Indian Railways races to add coaches and services on key winter routes.

Days of mass IndiGo cancellations have pushed thousands of Indian flyers onto the railways, overwhelming premium trains and forcing emergency capacity additions across zones. With the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordering a 5% cut in IndiGo’s schedule, winter itineraries are being redrawn around Vande Bharats, Rajdhanis and special trains instead of flights.

IndiGo has cancelled at least 2,000 flights in a week, including entire domestic operations from Delhi for 24 hours on December 5–6, triggering chaos at airports and a surge in rail demand. Indian Railways has responded by attaching 116 extra coaches to 37 premium trains and announcing 89 special services over select days.

Rail rush after IndiGo flight chaos: Vande Bharat and premium trains packed

According to the Railways’ press note, 116 additional coaches have been deployed across 37 premium trains, covering 114 augmented trips. Southern Railway leads with 18 trains enhanced, while Northern, Western, Eastern and Northeast Frontier railways have all added AC and sleeper capacity on busy corridors to Delhi and other metros.

The ministry said, “Additional Chair Car and Sleeper Class coaches have been deployed on high-demand routes,” underlining that these augmentations from December 6 would “substantially expand accommodation capacity” in affected regions. Yet, on many trunk routes, Vande Bharat, Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Tejas services are booked out, while some new specials are still filling gradually.

City snapshots: Jaipur, Pune and Delhi rail networks under pressure

In Jaipur, IndiGo disruptions have “triggered a massive shift to rail travel”, with almost all regular and special departures reportedly running at or near full capacity. Passengers who would usually fly to metros are crowding premium north–west links, making last-minute confirmed tickets on Jaipur–Delhi and Jaipur–Mumbai corridors unusually scarce this week.

Pune shows how quickly demand flipped. After around 40 IndiGo cancellations on December 6, four special trains from Pune, including services to Bengaluru, Hisar and Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin, first ran half-empty but then shot past 100% occupancy, with one touching 128% bookings. AC classes on Azad Hind Express, Jhelum Express and Pune–Howrah Duronto are now heavily waitlisted.

Delhi, the crisis epicentre, saw IndiGo cancel all 235 domestic flights for a full day, forcing many stranded passengers at IGI Airport to rush for train tickets instead. Northern Railway quickly attached extra 3AC and Chair Car coaches to key services such as Jammu Tawi Rajdhani, New Delhi–Dibrugarh and Shatabdi routes to Chandigarh and Amritsar, and signalled “more such initiatives” if needed.

What stranded flyers can realistically book now

Checks on IRCTC show a clear pattern: premium trains are packed, but certain relief specials still have seats. On the Mumbai–Delhi corridor, Western Railway’s new special train was showing nearly 450 vacant berths even as Rajdhani, Vande Bharat and Tejas services were fully booked. On some routes, Christmas-season Vande Bharats, such as Bengaluru–Ernakulam, are already sold out with long waitlists.

Travel planners now advise first checking special “train on demand” services and newly augmented premium trains, then shifting dates or boarding points to nearby cities. In many sectors, Chair Car or Sleeper in specials are available when 3AC in flagship trains is waitlisted, offering a workable fallback for flyers forced onto rails at short notice.

Policy responses continue in parallel. DGCA has ordered IndiGo to cut flights by 5%, with scope for a deeper reduction, and is probing what regulators describe as poor roster planning. Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu has called the situation an “internal mess” and warned he could sack the airline’s top leadership “if it comes to that”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed that “rules and laws are in order to correct the system and not to harass the people,” signalling pressure on both regulators and IndiGo to protect passengers. With IndiGo telling authorities that full stability may return only by February 10, 2026, Indian Railways’ expanded role and these emergency coach additions are likely to remain central to keeping holiday travel moving this winter.