Chennai: In an effort to ease the passenger rush that will happen during the Maha Pushkaram festival, Southern Railway took measures to manage the crowd.
Maha Pushkaram is a festival that is celebrated by Hindus across India to worship rivers. During October, it was celebrated in Tirunelveli along the Thamirabarani river. As a result, thousands of passengers took trains to travel. Cashing in on the influx of pilgrims, Southern Railway provided facilities at Tirunelveli railway station between 11 and 23 October and earned Rs 3.66 crore, including fine.
According to railway sources, they had operated 35 special, additional trains on the Chennai Egmore / Tambaram to Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Sengottai and Tenkasi routes. About 31,103 reserved passengers travelled through these trains which helped Southern Railway earn about Rs 2.56 crore.
Another railway source said three additional UTS counters for ticketing and enquiry at Tirunelveli were opened to handle the influx of pilgrims arriving for the Pushkaram, and in Madurai division. They handled nearly 1.82 lakh passengers and earned Rs 1.07 crore from unreserved tickets.
Compared to last year, there was an increase of 68 per cent in passengers and 97 per cent in earnings at Tirunelveli.
Southern Railway also appointed 10 ticket checking squad staff, 43 additional travelling ticket examiners (TTEs) and 38 additional RPF personnel. They were deployed at Tirunelveli, Tiruchendur and Ambasamudram stations.
About 40 additional cleaning staff were deployed along with the regular 18 staff at these sections for cleaning activities. Drinking water facilities and catering services were also provided for the pilgrims by Southern Railway.
According to data from Southern Railway, the number of passengers who arrived at Tirunelveli was about 1.81 lakh. About 57,865 passengers arrived at Tiruchendur, while at Ambasamudram, it was about 45,517.
The data says that about 620 cases of ticket-less travel were detected. The fines that were collected totalled to Rs 3 lakh.