The railways will run 315 special trains to and from Puri during the Ratha yatra for the convenience of pilgrims, officials said. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his two deputies Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida about this during a meeting in New Delhi on Friday, they said.
It has been decided that 315 special trains will be run for the Ratha Jatra festivities from July 6 to July 19, and most of Odisha will also be covered by this, Vaishnaw said at the meeting.
The Ministry of Railways will also make arrangements for the accommodation of 15,000 devotees in Puri for the festival, he said.
The special trains have been planned from Badampahad, Rourkela, Baleswar, Sonepur and Daspalla, Junagarh Road, Sambalpur, Kendujhargarh, Paradeep, Bhadrak, Angul, Gunupur, Bangiriposi on Gundicha Jatra, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) said in a statement.
Apart from this, special trains have also been planned for Sandhya Darshan, Bahuda Jatra, Suna Vesha and Adharapana rituals of Ratha Jatra, it said.
ECoR General Manager Parmeshwar Funkwal inspected the arrangements for handling the Ratha Jatra rush at the Puri station.
Funkwal gave instructions to complete the arrangements in advance.
Meanwhile, the CM and his two deputies, who are on a visit to New Delhi, also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla during the day, besides Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jual Oram and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
On Thursday, they met President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Nitin Gadkari.
The CM has invited the leaders to attend Rath Jatra celebrations in Puri, which will be held on July 7.