Title - Odha station facilities to be upgraded for next Kumbh

NASHIK: Indicative that the district administration has not yet conveyed any information to the railways authority about the arrangements to be made for the next Mahakumbh, the
Central Railway general manager Subodh Jain said that the railways would develop Odha railway station to ensure that visitors reached Panchavati without trouble for the Kumbh in 2015.

"We are awaiting a communication from the state government," Jain said on Friday. "The railways have decided to divert a majority of traffic to Odha station as it was closer to Panchavati when compared to Nashik Road. There were chances of better arrangements on larger scale at Odha than at Nashik Road," he added.

Jain was at Nashik on an official tour. He also said that the Railways would ensure that all trains coming to Nashik for the Kumbh would stop at Devlali, Nashik Road and Odha stations.

"While all the trains would halt at all three stations, we will take special precautionary measures to ensure that the crowd is handled efficiently to ensure an incident-free congregation," he said.

A new foot over-bridge would be added to the Mumbai end of the Nashik Road railway station and booking offices will be opened on Sinnar-phata side and Trimbakeshwar for the benefit of the passengers. The Railways has also decided to start a shuttle service between Igatpuri and Ghoti to enable passengers to alight at Ghoti and take the other route to Trimbakeshwar, bypassing Nashik city.

On the proposed rail link between Nashik and Pune, Jain said that the trains would go along the Sinnar, Sangamner, Rajguru Pune route putting to rest the speculation about the alternative route passing through the interiors of Nashik, Ahmednagar and Pune districts, as suggested by Rail Parishad earlier, was definitely not being considered by Railways.