Railways will run 1,225 special trains for the Kumbh Mela, of which 825 are for short routes, while 400 are long distance reserved trains. According to the Railways, this is about 177 per cent more than the number of trains run during Ardh Kumbh 2019, when 533 short distance and 161 long distance reserved trains were run.
Indian Railways has prepared a complete plan for the preparation of Kumbh Mela to be held next year. According to Railways, an estimated 40 crore devotees will attend next year’s Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. This program will run from 13 January to 26 February. For this, apart from 140 regular trains, Railways will run 1,225 special trains during the six major religious days of Snan.
According to the Railways, for the convenience of the pilgrims wishing to visit Ayodhya and Kashi, the Railways has planned to run Fast Ring MEMU service with stoppages at major stations like Prayagraj, Prayag, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Rambagh etc. A second ring rail service has been planned for pilgrims wishing to visit Chitrakoot, which will cover Jhansi, Banda, Chitrakoot, Manikpur, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Govindpuri and Orai.
How many trains on short and long routes?
Of these 1,225 special trains, 825 are for short routes, while 400 are long distance reserved trains. According to the Railways, this is about 177 per cent more than the number of trains run during Ardh Kumbh 2019, when 533 short distance and 161 long distance reserved trains were run. Railways has launched a toll free number – 1800-4199-139 – to help pilgrims. Kumbh 2025 mobile app is also being developed. It will be supported by a 24×7 call centre.
Railways is spending more than Rs 900 crore
The spokesperson said the Railways will pay Rs. Infrastructure projects including Rs 933.62 crore. 494.90 crore and for construction of road overbridges and underbridges Rs. 438.72 crores is included. Work is underway on 79 passenger amenities including a new station building and CCTV system. An additional passenger ring will be constructed at Prayagraj Junction to accommodate 4,000 passengers. Four such enclosures are already available at the station.
542 ticketing points available
A total of 542 ticketing points have been provided at all the stations as well as in the fair area. The spokesperson said that this counter can distribute 9.76 lakh tickets per day. Railway Protection Force is installing 651 additional CCTV cameras. Around 100 of these cameras will have an AI-based facial recognition system that will identify miscreants and anti-social elements.
