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Northern Central Railway has created a new record by operating 150 special trains for pilgrims travelling to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh Mela.
CPRO, Shashikant Tripathi, announced that in preparation for MahaKumbh2025, special trains began on 1 January, with ring-rail services for Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Chitrakoot starting on 10 January. On 14 January, NCR operated a record 150 special trains, including 101 from Prayagraj, Naini, Chheoki, and Subedarganj Junction, on Thursday. Speaking to ANI, Tripathi said, "We started our long-distance Mela special trains from 1 January. On 10 January, we started our ring-rail services, which majorly cover Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Chitrakoot. From 13 January, we started short-distance Mela special trains... If we talk about NCR only, then we operated 101 Mela special trains from Prayagraj, Naini, Chheoki, and Subedarganj Junction on 14 January." "To date, these many special trains have not been operated on a single day. Special trains were operated continuously from 5 major stations of our North and Northeast Railway. In total, 150 special Mela Special trains were operated on 14 January alone," he told ANI. Tripathi further added, "To make people aware of cleanliness, we were continuously doing street plays at the station. We had taken out a cleanliness rally and a bicycle rally as well...We have deployed more than 1,000 sanitation workers at our station and more than 18,000 sanitation workers to clean the coaches." Tripathi further continued, "We have completely banned single-use plastic on our premises... From 11 January to 14 January, we provided medical treatment to more than 11,000 people on railway premises. Out of this, 2,500 people were in critical condition and had reached the secondary stage, to whom we provided health-related treatment..." Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has now shifted its focus to the preparations for the Amrit Snan on Mauni Amavasya, scheduled for January 29, according to an official statement. To strengthen the arrangements, Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and Uttar Pradesh DGP Prashant Kumar conducted a visit to the Mahakumbh area on Thursday. During their visit, they chaired a high-level review meeting at the ICC auditorium. Maha Kumbh, which began on January 13, will continue until February 26. The next key bathing dates include January 29 (Mauni Amavasya - Second Shahi Snan), February 3 (Basant Panchami - Third Shahi Snan), February 12 (Maghi Purnima), and February 26 (Maha Shivaratri). (ANI)
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