Indian Railways Undertake Over 100 Aastha Special Trips For Ayodhya Pilgrims

Catering the high demand for Ayodhya, the Railways has undertaken over 100 Aastha Special train trips carrying pilgrims across the country to Ayodhya till now.

Since there is an overwhelming response to avail Aastha Special service, the Railways will continue to run these trains for the next two months. The Railways has kept 66 Aastha Special trains ready to carry pilgrims to Ayodhya from all over the country.

Starting from 30 January 2024, the Aastha Special service has been pressed into use to carry pilgrims to Ayodhya from various destinations including Howrah, Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Kota, Bina, Durg, Pune, Mumbai, and Bhubaneswar among others.

Equipped with onboard housekeeping staff, the 22-coach train carries about 1400 pilgrims in each trip. The pilgrims also return on the same train after visiting the Ram Temple at Ayodhya as one has to book the return ticket also.

Keeping the safety of the pilgrims in mind, the Railways has issued special passes with scan codes to each passenger. Though there are operational stoppages before reaching Ayodhya, no one is allowed to board the train during the journey. Security personnel are also deployed at all Aastha Special trains and unauthorised entry into the train has been barred during the whole journey.

IRCTC, the Railways catering arm, has been given catering responsibility to provide meals to the passengers on the train.

According to the Railways, all passengers are provided linens, including blankets, towels, pillows and bedsheets.

Special care has been taken to ensure cleanliness in the train during the journey with two OBHS staff deployed for each coach.

All stations along the route are given advance information to ensure the smooth passage for Aastha Specials.

Since Ayodhya is witnessing a heavy rush of pilgrims at the moment with about over 2 lakh people coming to the holy place every day, the Railways is regulating the Aastha Specials, limiting it to only a few per day.