Officials said 315 special trains will be run to facilitate pilgrims from Puri. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his two deputy chief ministers Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida were informed about this by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at a meeting in New Delhi on Friday.
At the meeting, Vaishnaw said 315 special trains will be run for the Rath Yatra festival from July 6 to July 19, covering most of Odisha.
The Railway Ministry will also make arrangements for accommodation of 15,000 devotees in Puri for the festival, he said. The East Coast Railway (ECoR) said in a statement that special trains have been planned from Badampahar, Rourkela, Balasore, Sonapur and Daspalla, Junagarh Road, Sambalpur, Kendujhargarh, Paradip, Bhadrak, Angul, Gunupur, Bangiriposi on Gundicha Yatra.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) said in a statement that special trains have been arranged from Badampahar, Rourkela, Balasore, Sonapur and Daspalla, Junagarh Road, Sambalpur, Kendujhargarh, Paradip, Bhadrak, Angul, Gunupur and Bangiriposi to Gundicha.
In addition, special trains have been arranged for Sandhya Darshan, Bahuda Yatra, Suna Vesha, and Adharapana rituals of Rath Yatra.
ECoR General Manager Parmeshwar Phunkwal inspected the arrangements to control the Rath Yatra crowd at Puri station. Phunkwal instructed to complete the arrangements in advance.
On Thursday, he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Nitin Gadkari, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and President Draupadi Murmu.
The leaders have been invited by the chief minister to attend the Rath Yatra celebrations in Puri on July 7.
