Guwahati, Oct 20 (IANS) To manage the heavy rush of passengers and devotees during Diwali and the upcoming Chhath Puja, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has been operating 48 festival special trains for 613 trips (overall) in its jurisdiction between September and December, officials said on Monday.

NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that to manage the massive passenger rush during Diwali and Chhath Puja this year, the NFR has been operating 48 festival special trains for 613 trips (overall) across various routes between September and December.

He said that these special trains have been connecting important destinations including Katihar, Sonpur, Dauram, Madhepura, Agartala, New Tinsukia, SMVT Bengaluru, Amritsar, Patna, Dibrugarh, Gorakhpur, Silchar, Kolkata, Guwahati, Ranchi, Charlapalli, Mumbai Central, Agra Cantt, Jogbani, Shalimarand Kamakhya and many others.

The train services are provided on daily, weekly, tri-weekly or specific weekdays, as per operational feasibility and existing demand. Running of these special trains will help clear extra rush of passengers travelling to and from various areas like Northeast, North Bengal and Bihar, the CPRO said.

The NFR authority advised the passengers to check detailed timings, stoppages and coach compositions from the official Railway sources before planning their journey.

While Chhath Puja is celebrated in most of the Northeastern states every year, during the Diwali and Kali Puja festivals, lakhs of devotees from across India, including foreign tourists, visit the 524-year-old Tripura Sundari temple at Udaipur in southern Tripura’s Gomati district and the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati. Both temples are Shakti Peethas revered by Hindus.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) operates in the Northeastern states and in seven districts of West Bengal and five districts of north Bihar with more than 7,362 Track Kilometres (TKM) in its jurisdiction.

–IANS

sc/dan