Bhubaneswar: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday announced that the Railways will run 315 special trains to and from Puri during the Rath Yatra for smooth travel and convenience of the pilgrims from July 6 to July 19.
Vaishnaw said this while meeting Odisha chief minister Mohan Majhi, deputy chief ministers KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida in New Delhi. This year’s special train allocation is much higher than last year’s, he added.
“We have tried to cover almost all regions of the state. These trains will help people from different parts of the state to visit Puri and pay obeisance to the holy trinity on the chariots. We will also make arrangements for accommodation of 15,000 devotees coming to Puri for the Rath Yatra festival,” he added.
He said the Railways will create more facilities for the pilgrims this year compared to last year. Vaishnaw emphasized the importance of improving passenger amenities and facilities during the Rath Yatra period and advised ECoR for provision of better convenience and benefits for the pilgrims and devotees.
This time, special trains have been planned from Badampahar, Rourkela, Balasore, Sonepur, Daspalla, Junagarh Road, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Paradip, Bhadrak, Angul, Gunupur, Bangiriposi on Gundicha Yatra.
Special trains have also been planned for Sandhya Darshan, Bahuda Yatra, Adharapana and Suna Besha, said the East Coast Railway (ECoR) official sources.
ECoR will provide reserved class accommodation in some of the long-distance special trains during the festival period for the convenience of the passengers.
ECoR general manager Parmeshwar Funkwal inspected the Rath Yatra arrangement at Puri railway station on Friday and took stock of facilities being provided to the pilgrims. He also instructed the concerned officials to complete the Rath Yatra arrangements and facilities much before the scheduled period of Rath Yatra, said the official statement of the ECoR.