Railways have made elaborate arrangements, including opening a booking counter on the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple premises, to clear rush of women devotees arriving to offer Pongala at the temple on March 7.
Special trains will be operated between Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram on March 6 and 7 for the benefit of the women devotees, Railways said. The Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram special train on March 6 will leave Kollam at 12.15 p.m. to arrive at Thiruvananthapuram Central at 2.35 p.m. The Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram special train on March 7 will leave Kollam at 4 a.m. to arrive at Thiruvananthapuram Central at 6 a.m. The special trains will stop at all the stoppages of the 56307 Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Passenger.
On March 7 after the Pongala, the Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kollam special will leave Thiruvananthapuram Central at 3.30 p.m. The special train will stop at all the stoppages of the 56700 Madurai-Kollam Passenger.
The special trains on these days will be treated as express for the purpose of calculation of fare, Railways said.
Additional stoppages
Additional stoppages have been provided for the 16649 Mangalore-Thiruvananthapuram Parasuram Express. The 16345 Lokmanya Tilak-Thiruvananthapuram Express and the 17230 Hyderabad-Thiruvananthapuram Express will stop at all stations except Pettah, Veli, Kaniyapuram, Perumkuzhi, Akathumuri, Edava, and Iravipuram on March 6.
On March 7, the 16344 Palakkad-Thiruvananthapuram Amritha Express, 16603 Mangalore-Thiruvananthapuram Maveli Express, 16322 Thiruvananthapuram-Bangalore Express, and 12695/12696 Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram Chennai Superfast Express will stop at all stations except Pettah, Veli, Kaniyapuram, Perumkuzhi, Akathumuri, Edava, and Iravipuram.
The 16304 Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam Vanchinad Express, 16629 Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore Malabar Express, 16342 Thiruvananthapuram- Ernakulam Intercity Express, and 16604 Thiruvananthapuram-Mangalore Maveli Express will stop at all stoppages of the 56308 Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam Passenger on March 7.
On March 7, the 16724 Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Egmore Ananthapuri Express will stop at all the stations between Thiruvananthapuram and Nagercoil Junction. The 56700 Madurai-Kollam Fast Passenger will stop at Dhanuvachapuram, Amaravila, Balaramapuram, and Nemom.
Additional coaches will be provided between Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram and Nagercoil and Thiruvananthapuram on March 6 and 7. Three booking counters will be operated at the main entrance of Thiruvananthapuram Central.
Short-distance passengers travelling on the day have been requested to avail themselves of the return journey ticket from the originating station to avoid rush at the booking counters in Thiruvananthapuram Central. The information booths at the main and second entry will be operated with additional staff. The Railway Protection Force will mobilise additional manpower from other divisions of Southern Railway for crowd management. In case of emergency, passengers can contact RPF special control room at 0471 2115224 or helpline 9995 040000.
