Ahead of Chhath Puja, Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar conducted an inspection of facilities on Sunday, announcing that the Railways will operate 195 special trains over a 13-day period from the Delhi area this year to accommodate passengers.
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“We are operating extra trains as part of the arrangements. We are operating 195 special trains in 13 days from the Delhi area this year… Today, 70 trains are running from Delhi, of which 16 are special trains, and 4 trains are unannounced. Through these measures, we are trying to provide facilities to the passengers. I asked passengers about the arrangements, they are satisfied with the arrangements made this year,” Kumar told ANI.
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The Railway Board Chairman also engaged with passengers traveling during the Chhath Puja rush. On Friday, Indian Railways announced the operation of special trains nationwide to ensure safe travel for those heading home for the festival.
Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information and Publicity for the Railway Board, reported that over 160 trains were in operation on Thursday, with plans to run more than 170 trains on Sunday.
Kumar said that special arrangements have been made at all major stations, including New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Mumbai, Bandra, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
“The special arrangements are for people travelling to their hometowns during Chhath Puja. We are running various trains to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to accommodate the rush. Yesterday, we ran more than 160 trains, and today we plan to run over 170 trains. Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railways Protection Force (RPF) staff have been deployed to manage the crowd, and Rail Sewaks are available to assist travelers with any questions,” he said.
Additional coaches have been added to the special trains, and hundreds of CCTV cameras have been installed at the stations to monitor the movement of people.
“Tickets can be booked through both online and offline systems. Those unable to obtain confirmed tickets can access unreserved seats. We have restricted unnecessary movement of travellers, and Rail Sewaks are on hand to assist senior and physically challenged citizens,” Kumar added.
Chhath is a significant festival primarily celebrated in the northern and eastern parts of India, including Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar.