Rath Yatra: for Rlys, it’s not revenue alone

It’s that time of the year again for Puri in Odisha. And as always, thousands of people from across the country are descending on the temple town to witness its famous chariot festival, the Rath Yatra, which commenced on Sunday.

The yatra may only be a day-long affair. But the celebrations last for over a week.

It starts with Gundicha Yatra, popularly called Rath Yatra, when the idols of three gods — Jagannath, Balabhadra and Shubhadra — are pulled for about 4 km in their chariots to the nearby temple.

Then, a week later, comes the Bahuda Yatra, when the chariots are pulled back to the main temple. The festivities end with Suna Vesha, a day when all the idols are dressed in golden attire.

For Indian Railways, the weeklong celebrations pose an immense logistical challenge.

According to JP Mishra, spokesperson of the Bhubaneswar-headquartered East Coast Railway, the largest freight loading zone of the railways, the Puri station handles about 4,500 passengers and 25 trains on a normal day.

During the yatra that shoots up — last year, there were 70,000 passengers on the Gundicha Yatra day, and 55,000 passengers on the day after Suna Vesha. In all, Indian Railways carries about 300,000 passengers during the festival.

To cope with the demand, the Railways is running 84 special trains during the festival this year, and will add another eight, if needed. Details on ticket sales this year will be available over the next few days.

The passenger trains are non-air-conditioned, unreserved , covering distances of 300 km, on an average. Most of the passengers are from West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of western India.

Railway officials admit that the unreserved trains are so packed that they check tickets at the entry points of stations and trains, rather than in the trains.

To sell these unreserved tickets, the Railways has put up 40 modular ticket counters this year. On normal days, Puri station has only 2-3 ticket counters. During other festivals, such as Ganesh Puja and Diwali, it puts up 5-6 extra counters.

The Railways admits that its focus during the event is more on facilitating passenger movement than garnering revenues.

Also, the role of the Railways during the Rath Yatra is not limited to carrying passengers. Since 1967, a team of 36 railway engineers have been helping in manoeuvring the chariots, said Mishra.