Indian Railways prepares to welcome Kumbh pilgrims

Yesterday, Indian Railways in a press release gave information regarding their preparations for the Kumbh Mela 2019. The whole preparation is jointly being done by the North Central Railways (NCR), Northern Railways (NR) and North-Eastern Railways (NER) divisions of Indian Railways. In order to manage the pilgrims and tourists participating in-and during the-Kumbh Mela-2019, Railways has undertaken a total of 41 infrastructural works of more than Rs 700 crores. Out of these, 29 projects have already been completed and the rest are either in the advanced stage or to be completed soon.

Infrastructural Augmentations:

Railways have constructed four big enclosures at Allahabad Junction to house more than 10,000 pilgrims. The enclosures are well-equipped with facilities like vending stalls, water booths, ticket counters, LCD TVs, PA system, CCTV cameras and separate toilets blocks for Ladies and Gents. Similar enclosures are built at other stations as well. Several Foot-Over-Bridges (FOBs) are constructed for the seamless movement of the passengers. A new platform (Formerly PF No. 11) has been constructed at Allahabad Junction. It has been constructed to manage the crowd as Allahabad Junction Station will also be used to run trains carrying the ‘Pravasi Bhartiya’ coming to Prayagraj from Varanasi to participate in the Kumbh Mela.

Subedarganj, a nearby station to Allahabad Jn., is being developed as a terminal station to manage the increased train traffic. Also, Prayag Ghat Station is being developed as a new coaching terminal with 5 new platforms, 2 washing lines, and construction of new building nearby station. It is estimated that all works of phase-1 will be completed by 30^th December.

Special Trains:

Six special tourist trains will be running from different parts of the country carrying pilgrims to Prayagraj. Railways have planned to run 800 special trains from various stations of the Prayagraj district for the pilgrims to participate in the Kumbh Mela. These trains will be in addition to the regular ones. Railways have also planned to operate special trains (4 or 5 in No.) for transporting ‘Pravasi Bhartiyas’ from Prayagraj to New Delhi, who will come to participate in the ‘Pravasi Bhartiya Divas’ at Varanasi and will come to Prayagraj from Varanasi to participate in Kumbh Mela.

Branding:

The Railways has started “Paint My City” initiative for promoting the pilgrimage in Kumbh Mela. In this initiative, street artists have been given an opportunity to display their art at railway stations and residential colonies. The initiative also includes the vinyl wrapping of 1400 coaches of special trains and trains originating from NCR zone. These wrapping will have colorful and attractive images of Kumbh Mela and the landmark structure of Prayagraj.

Technological Innovation:

North Central Railway has launched a new mobile application titled “Rail Kumbh Seva Mobile App”. The app will assist the tourists and devotees while travelling around the city of Prayag Raj. Rail Kumbh Seva Mobile App is integrated with GPS for tracking the location of the users as well as to navigate them through all the nearby railway stations, mela zone, important hotels; bus stands etc within Prayagraj. The app will also provide information regarding the ‘mela special’ trains that will be running during the mela from all the stations of Prayagraj (NCR, NR, NER). It will also be having a link to book both the reserved and unreserved tickets. The government has also launched ‘Unreserved Ticketing System’ (UTS) on the mobile app to promote paperless ticketing.

Railways’ Assistance to Civil Authorities of Prayagraj:

Indian Railways has granted permission for the construction of various temporary roads and ‘Road-Under-Bridges’ (RUBs). Widening of 6 RUBs has been completed in Prayagraj. Construction of new FOB at Allahabad City Station and community toilets to provide good sanitation facility at various places in Allahabad city is going at full pace. Railway has also given an NOC to Allahabad Development Authority for construction and development works at DSA Ground in Khusrubagh Chauraha, near Allahabad Junction Station. Pilgrims’ movement plan and holding area plan, both have already been finalized for all the stations in the Prayagraj area.

Indian Railways also assured that it will effectively manage the rush of pilgrims during the Kumbh Mela and also make sure the Mela experience to be a life-longing and memorable one for the pilgrims and tourists. On another day, the Railway Ministry gave good news to pilgrims by removing Kumbh Mela surcharge.