NEW DELHI: Ahead of the next Kumbh mela, the Ministry of Railway has worked out a plan for providing better railway services to people who would be visiting the Kumbh Mela in 2025. The Railway has decided to run 992 special trains for the mega Kumbh-Mela and other festivals. According to an official source, the Railway will start running special trains from January 12 to February 28 during which many religious festivals, apart from the Kumbh Mela, namely Paush -Poornima, Maker Sankrnati, Mauni Amavasya, Basant Panchami, Maghi Poornima and Mahashivratri are to take place. The special trains would be running in addition to 6580 regular trains during the Kumbh mela. In addition to this, the railway has also decided to grant stoppages to 140 passing-through trains to allow boarding passengers from Prayagraj areas on daily basis during the mela period also. There is also a circular train running plan: Prayagraj-Ayodhya-Varanasi-Prayagraj and Prayagrag-Varansi- Ayodhya-Prayagraj. A senior official told TNIE that for special trains 174 longer rakes have also been planned. According to officials, besides running special trains, the ministry has earmarked Rs 933 crore to create and upgrade various infrastructure and amenities for passengers.Doubling of railway tracks at a cost of Rs 3,700 crore in the Prayagraj Division and adjoining areas is also being done at a fast pace for smooth movement of trains. At a meeting held by Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday with officials and MoS railway Ravneet Singh Bittu and V Somanna, all things regarding special trains and other arrangements for clearing festive rush were discussed in details. The minister, through video conferencing, directed all GMs to ensure proper arrangements during festivals times with adequate security and safety measures. According to a rough estimation of railway, more than 6 crore people are expected to visit Prayagraj during Kumbh mela in addition to 20-30 crore people undertaking journey from one part to another during upcoming festivals like Diwali and Chhatha. “To cater needs, we have planned to run 992 special trains, besides the 6,580 regular trains from various cities to Prayagraj. In 2019, over 24 crore people attended the event and we had run 694 special trains besides our 5,000 regular services. Based on that experience, we have decided to increase the number of special trains by 42 per cent and make it to 992”, said an official.
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