RailEnquiry

The South Eastern Railway (SER) has come up with a host of measures to ease the rush of devotees who flock various religious destinations during the holy month of Shravan.

For those bound for Baidyanath Temple, the railway authorities have decided to introduce a special train from Tatanagar to Jasidih, the nearest station to Deoghar. The train will chug off on its first journey on July 22. The service will continue till August 22, the last day of Shravani Mela.

Officials at the SER headquarters at Garden Reach, Calcutta, said that the special train would run five days a week — on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

According to schedule, it will leave Tatanagar at 11.45am and reach Jasidih at 7.20pm. The return trip the next day will start at 11.10am from Jasidih and the train will arrive at Tatanagar at 5.30pm.

Railway authorities are also planning to add one coach each to Tatanagar-Chapra Express and South Bihar Express, which witness huge rush of devotees throughout the month of Shravan.

“Apart from introducing the special train, we will also add extra coaches to comfortably accommodate devotees bound for various destinations in Bihar,” said Tatanagar station manager Awtar Singh.

Railway sources said that Garden Reach would also come out with a circular announcing the halt of passenger trains at Mahadevshal in West Singhbhum, where a grand fair is organised at the local Shiva temple.

Every year, the Tata-Bilaspur Passenger, South Bihar Express, Tata-Allepey Express and few other trains halt at Mahadevshal during the month of Shravan .

Members of Chotanagpur Passengers’ Association, however, found the new measures inadequate.

“The number of devotees are swelling every year. The railways should introduce at least two special trains to Jasidih,” said a member.