NFR runs special trains for Tripura Sundari Diwali festival

Northeast Frontier Railway has put on extra unreserved trains between November 8 and 10 to carry pilgrims travelling for the Diwali festival at Mata Tripura Sundari Temple in Udaipur, Gomati district, Tripurainfo reported on Sunday, citing an official note from the railway.

The Office of the General Manager (Operations), NFR, at Maligaon in Guwahati issued the communication on November 8. It provides for three pairs of Train-on-Demand specials on the Agartala-Sabroom and Agartala-Dharmanagar routes, which the railway said were needed to handle the extra passenger load during the three-day festival.

The three services

The first pair, train numbers 05638 and 05637, will run between Agartala and Sabroom on November 8. 05638 is scheduled to leave Agartala at 7:30 pm and reach Sabroom at 10:05 pm. The return service, 05637, is to leave Sabroom at 10:35 pm and arrive in Agartala at 1:20 am the next day.

Its notified stops include SKKE, BLGH, BHRM, Udaipur (UDPU), JRJE, STRB, BENA, JIBI, THTW and MUBR. The halt at Udaipur is the most useful for temple-goers, because the Agartala-Sabroom line passes through the town that serves the 525-year-old shrine at Matabari.

The second pair, 05640 and 05639, will run between Agartala and Dharmanagar on November 9 and 10. 05640 is to leave Agartala at 5:10 am and reach Dharmanagar at 8:45 am. 05639 is to leave Dharmanagar at 9:30 am and arrive in Agartala at 1:20 pm, stopping at JGNR, JRNA, TLMR, MGKM, ABSA, JWNR, SKAP, MANU, NLKT, KUGT, PEC and PASG.

The third pair, 05644 and 05643, will again run between Agartala and Sabroom, on November 9 and 10. 05644 is scheduled to leave Agartala at 2:15 pm and reach Sabroom at 4:35 pm; 05643 is to leave Sabroom at 5:00 pm and arrive in Agartala at 7:35 pm, with the same intermediate stops as the first Sabroom service.

How the trains will be run

According to the railway notification, the Agartala-Dharmanagar specials and the extra Agartala-Sabroom services will each have 14 LHB coaches: 12 general second-class coaches, one luggage-cum-brake van (LWLRRM) and one luggage-cum-second-class coach with facilities for passengers with disabilities (LSLRD). The trains will run on diesel traction, be maintained at Agartala and remain unreserved.

The festival at the temple is expected to draw a large number of devotees from inside and outside Tripura through November 10. NEInsider earlier reported the security plan for the mela, including a large police deployment and a drone show on the opening evening: https://neinsider.com/tripura/tripurasundari-diwali-fest-2-200-security-personnel-500-drone-show-8e6ae8

Separately, the Gomati District Magistrate has declared a no-fly zone extending 5 km from the temple from November 8 to 10, Tripura Star News reported. The order, issued under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, bars drones and other aerial vehicles except those authorised for the fair. Violations can attract action under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.