KOCHI. Southern Railway has allotted a special train to people of Sambaloor, Thrissur, for carrying 1300 devotees to Goa for seeing the holy relics of St Francis Xavier.
The trip was arranged by Nanma, a self-help group of St Francis Church, Sambaloor. This is said to be the first time that Railway has arranged a train for such a special purpose. The cost of the trip is Rs 23 lakh.
Change in Railway Board norms and unavailability of coaches due to Sabarimala season delayed allotment of a rake for the special trip. “The Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division exerted pressure on Railway Board to sanction a rake,” said Ernakulam Area Manager of Southern Railway Rajesh Chandran, while addressing media persons here on Tuesday.
Actor and Member of Parliament Innocent and Alphonse Kannanthanam too strove for the trip to materialize. Though 850 people initially planned their trip, more devotees and others came forward on hearing that this would be a dedicated train organized by IRCTC to ferry the devotees.
The special train will begin service from Chalakudy on December 25 evening and reach Karmaly, Goa the next day. The return trip will begin on December 27 and reach Chalakudy the next day. The per head expense of Rs 4500 covers travel, food, accommodation and boating.
The train will have 18 coaches, including 16 sleeper coaches. Railway will return the deposit fee of Rs 5 lakh after the trip is over.