Indian Railways discontinue ‘Mela surcharge’ during Rath Jatra
ONI Bureau: Good news for the devotees and tourists who visit Puri to witness the Rath Jatra as the Indian Railways has discontinued ‘Mela Surcharge’ on passengers with effect from December 11.
The Railway Board has taken this decision ahead of the Kumbh Mela to be held in January 2019 in Allahabad.
The Union Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal on Wednesday took the Twitter to share this information.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) sources said it had collected around Rs 30 lakh in the form of surcharge during the annual car festival of Lord Jagannath and his siblings every year to provide certain facilities such as running of special trains, additional booking counters, setting up pilgrim sheds and many more to make the Rath Jatra hassle-free.
जय जगन्नाथ: Rath Yatris travelling to Odisha to seek Lord Jagannath's blessings have more reason to rejoice, as Railways has discontinued the Mela Surcharge that was applicable on major fairs & festivals, thereby making travel more affordable for devotees https://t.co/A7BaPP1lSF pic.twitter.com/VP1Fcj8XGl
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) December 19, 2018