Railways to run 140 special trains during Puri Ratha Yatra

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to run 140 special trains to Puri during a nine-day-long Ratha Yatra festival starting from July 6. This arrangement has been made by the railway zone to avoid heavy rush of passengers during the festival.
ECoR will run the special trains to Puri from Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Paradip, Berhampur, Palasa and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Bhawanipatna, Keonjhar, Bangiriposi (Mayurbhanj), Sambalpur and Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh) between July 5 and July 16.
Six trains will run to Puri for Netra Utsav ritual of the holy trinity on July 5 (a day before Ratha Yatra), while 26 trains will run for Gundicha Yatra (first day of Ratha Yatra) on July 6.

As many as 40 trains will be run between July 7 and July 13 for Sandhya Darshan of the deities. The zone has arranged 22 trains for Bahuda Yatra on July 15 and 24 trains for Sunabesha ritual of the deities falls on next day of the Bahuda Yatra.

The ECoR will also run six trains on the very next day of Suna Besha on July 16. Besides, 16 trains will be extended from their originating stations to Puri as special trains in view of the rush. All special trains will be named as Yatra Express Special, said the sources.
People from Midnapore and border areas between Odisha and West Bengal have been requesting their local railway zone to run special trains from their area to Puri. People from Tatanagar and Raipur are also coming to Puri in large number for the festival, but railway had not run any trains between these areas and Puri.

ECoR chief public relations officer JP Mishra said, "We are in talks with nearby zonal railways for working out special trains from places like Midnapore, Khadagpur, Tatanagar, Rourkela and Raipur. This year, we will start a train from Jagdalpur."
Mishra said this is the first list of special trains. "We will keep some extra coaches with engine ready to be worked out at short notice. In case we find crowds at any station, we will run special trains," he added.
The ECoR will also open five additional enquiry counters, 30 additional ticket counters, four 'May I Help You' booths and additional ticket checking staff at Puri railway station to tackle the heavy rush of passengers.

It will also open first aid booths, deploy ambulance along with railway doctors and paramedical staff, GRP and RPF control room, mela shed, area control room and other train operation related control rooms for safe journey of passengers.

"More than 500 additional RPF personnel will be deployed. Additional CCTVs will be installed in Puri stations to keep eye on the movements of suspected elements. RPF staff will keep strict vigil at Puri, Bhubaneswar and Khurda railway stations," said a senior railway officer.