Railways gear up for Kumbh rush

North Central Railway, which is headquartered in Allahabad has decided to run 750 special trains by NCR to run during mela period. The zone will form nearly 37 mela special rakes during the period.

While it is requisitioning 800 extra coaches for the purpose, Northern Railway headquartered at Delhi and North Eastern Railway headquartered at Gorakhpur are deploying 1100 additional coaches.

While special express trains would be run, the existing ones will be replenished with additional coaches.

Passenger amenities have been improved at Allahabhad junction with installation of escalators and extension of foot overbridges. Similar measures are there for near-by stations like Naini, Cheoki and Subedarganj like at Allahabad.

While special focus has been given to creating facilities in and around Allahabad,the trains will be given additional stoppages at Etawah, Allahabad, Naini, Cheokki and Vindhyachal stations, where fresh measures have been taken to beef up passenger amenities and securities.

Besides providing medical facilities, deployment of additional staff has also been made for effective mechanism for crowd management, the release said.

Several restrictions have also been imposed to avoid inconvenience to pilgrims. Goods traffic will be restricted during Mela period at Subedarganj, Naini and Mirzapur while parcel booking will be restricted during Mela period at Allahabad and Naini.

Moreover, four pairs of long distance trains will be diverted avoiding Allahabad from February to February 20. (MORE)