The North Eastern Railway will run special trains for pilgrims (file photo)
The North Eastern Railway will soon start two special trains to cater to the travel needs of pilgrims heading to Mathura and other religious places in Uttarakhand till the end of June, officials said on Wednesday. "All the coaches in both the trains would be under the reserved category", Rajendra Singh, a senior railways official said. It is mandatory for every passenger to adhere to COVID-19 norms, the official added.
He said the Ram Nagar-Agra Fort Tri-Weekly Express (Train No. 05055/05056) would start from Ram Nagar in Uttarakhand on April 11. According to the train's schedule, Train No. 05056 would start from Ram Nagar at 7.50 PM every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. It would terminate at Agra Fort station the following day at 6.55 AM.
For the return journey, Train No. 05055 will leave Agra Fort at 8.40 PM on April 12 and it will run every Wednesday, Saturday and Monday. The train will terminate at Ram Nagar station the following day at 7.20 AM.
According to officials, the 16-coach train with six sleeper coaches and one AC 3-tier and AC 2-tier each will stop at major stations like Pantnagar, Bareilly Junction, Budaun, Soron, Kasganj and Mathura.
Both the special trains would operate up to June 30, the official added. The North Eastern Railway has also decided to run Howrah-Lalkuan Weekly Special train connecting important pilgrim centres. Starting from Howrah every Friday, the train would run between April 16 to June 25. The return train would start from Lalkuan in Uttarakhand every Saturday and will operate till June 26. The train will have 19 coaches including nine sleeper coaches, four AC 3-tier and two AC 2-tier coaches.