NEW DELHI, JAN 18: Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee found another opportunity in the Mahakumbh to appease the people of West Bengal. She asked her officials in the Railway Ministry to run a special Shatabdi Express between Howrah and Allahabad so that people could go ``comfortably'' and take a dip on Mauni Amavasya on January 24.Mamata also sounded a note of caution - extra care should be taken about the safety of trains originating from West Bengal as also comfort of the pilgrims.The Ministry obliged and has made arrangements for a special train, with Shatabdi coaches, to run between Howrah and Allahabad and back on January 22. The train will have limited stops at Gaya and Mughal Sarai for lunch and tea, respectively. On the return journey, it will stop briefly at Dhanbad and Asansol. Another special train - an additional Upasana Express - will run from Howrah to Allahabad.Moreover, to clear the Mahakumbh rush, all trains from Howrah have been augmented with additional coaches. Sources said that West Bengal was anyway on the priority list of Railways but this time there were express orders that ``there should be no complaints''.However, a defensive Railway official said that they were running special Mahakumbh trains from all over the country and not just Kolkata. ``We are running 150 additional trains to clear the rush of passengers who want to take a dip on January 24. This is in addition to the usual 192 Allahabad-bound daily trains. Three crore people are expected to take a dip that day,'' he explained.Giving more details about the Railway logistics at the Mahakumbh, he said that this was the first time that people were actually paying to go to the Mahakumbh. In fact, the Railways expect that the Mahakumbh rush will help them reduce their deficit to a large extent.``Earlier, sadhus and pilgrims from all over the country simply hijacked the trains, put up a huge banner outside saying it was bound for the Kumbh. Nobody ever thought that they should be buying tickets. In fact, many ministers themselves used to make arrangements for the pilgrims to travel free. Special trains were run but no money charged. This time we are running special trains and augmenting the capacity. It is big business for Railways,'' the official said.A Railway spokesman added that managing the Mahakumbh rush was the biggest-ever exercise taken up by the Railways. ``The elaborate arrangements include more than 2,000 coaches, 50 long-distance express trains to carry pilgrims from Guwahati, Katihar, Kolkata, Chennai, Secundarabad, Mumbai and Delhi to Allahabad. Besides, 500 special trains will also be run to cater to short-distance traffic from Ayodhya, Kanpur, Mughal Sarai, Satna, Chhapra, Lucknow, Jhansi to Allahabad,'' he said.
