North Central Railway (NCR) is all set to manage the huge influx of pilgrims for Mahakumbh, planning to run over 300 trains including 80 special services to ensure efficient transportation for devotees reaching Prayagraj. An NCR official gave this information.
Hours before the start of the Maha Kumbh, NCR Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Shashikant Tripathi told ANI that the railway authorities have completed all necessary preparations including crowd management, ticket booking counters, train services and security arrangements.
Giving information about train services, CPRO said that North Central Railway will also start regular unreserved short distance trains from tomorrow.
Shashi Kant Tripathi said, “We started our preparations for the Maha Kumbh two years ago. Now our preparations have reached a level where we can welcome all our passengers with confidence. Our long distance special Trains have started from January 1, including 50 trains which have started from January 10 and unreserved short distance regular trains will start from tomorrow, coinciding with the first day of Maha Kumbh. Eats.”
He said, “More than 80 Mela special trains will run tomorrow, taking the total number of trains in service to around 300. This will facilitate passengers to reach their destinations. Since Makar Sankranti is the day after tomorrow, we also started special train services. Are.”
Railway officials said that with the help of regional departments of Indian Railways, employees from across the country have been deployed in Prayagraj to assist in Kumbh operations. “Around 4,000 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, 10,000 Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel and officers from various other departments have been deployed in Prayagraj,” Tripathi said.
He told, “If we look at our plan of yesterday, we are ready to evacuate about 4-5 lakh people from Prayagraj, if they want to return to their destination. To achieve this, employees of various zonal railways “Additional assistance has also been deployed from Indian Railways. We have loco pilots, guards, controllers and staff from commerce and tourism departments working to ensure smooth operations.”
Discussing crowd management measures, Tripathi said authorities have imposed several restrictions including dedicated entry and exit gates and operational ticket counters in the fair area. “We have imposed some restrictions to manage the crowd effectively,” he said.
He said, “Citizens can now enter the station from the city side (Leader Road) and exit from the Civil Lines side, thereby ensuring one-way traffic and avoiding crossings. Fair area to assist passengers Ticket counters and passenger shelter sheds are operational. Our main objective is to ensure that pilgrims reach their destination with ease and simplicity.”
The CPRO said that to overcome language barriers, NCR has introduced multilingual announcements, toll-free numbers and information screens.
Tripathi said, “We have implemented multilingual announcements and ensured that our toll-free numbers and information screens are multilingual. Additionally, our staff, who have been trained and deployed from different parts of the country, are providing information to the pilgrims about their Will guide in native languages.”
Earlier, on January 2, Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information and Publicity, Railway Board, had said that the Railways will run around 13,000 trains to facilitate the large number of visitors coming during the Kumbh Mela.
Kumar said, “Railways is working with the slogan of ‘Divya Kumbh, Bhavya Kumbh, Digital Maha Kumbh’. Around 40 crore people are expected to participate in it. We have planned to run 13,000 trains during the Kumbh.”
To ensure smooth transportation for lakhs of devotees, significant improvements have been made in passenger amenities at railway stations near major Kumbh Mela sites. “Passenger amenities have been significantly enhanced at major stations near Kumbh. Passenger amenities have been improved and every possible measure is being taken to provide better services,” Kumar assured.
The Maha Kumbh, which is celebrated once every 12 years, is expected to attract more than 45 crore devotees. During this event pilgrims gather to take a holy dip at the Sangam – the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati (now extinct).
The Maha Kumbh will conclude on February 26, with major bathing rituals (Shahi Snan) taking place on January 14 (Makar Sankranti), January 29 (Mauni Amavasya) and February 3 (Basant Panchami).
