Mumbai, August 24: The Central Railway (CR) has decided to run special trains between Velankanni-Panvel and Panvel-Chennai/Tiruchchirappalli to clear the extra rush of passengers during Velankanni Festival. The booking starts from August 24, 2018. i.e. today. The 11-day annual Velankanni festival will commence on August 29 at the Shrine's Basilica at Velankanni, located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, about 10 km south of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.

The Velankanni festival will conclude on September 8 with the celebration of the birthday of the Blessed Mother Shrine Velankanni. Velankanni has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.

The details of the special trains are as under -

Velankanni - Panvel Special Train (One Trip)

  • Train No. 06030 will leave Velankanni at 21.45 hrs on Saturday 08.09.2018 & arrive Panvel at 11.45 hrs the third day.

Composition: One 1st AC, One AC 2 Tier, Three AC 3-Tier, 13 Sleeper class & 4 General Second class.

  • Train No. 06026 will leave Velankanni at 08.30 hrs on Sunday 09.09.2018 & arrive Panvel at 15.25 hrs next day.

Composition: Two AC 3-Tier, 12 Sleeper class.

Halts: Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Mayiladurhurai, Villupuram, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram Arakkonam, Renigunta, Rajampeta, Kadapa, Yerranguntla, Muddanuru, Tadipatri, Gooty, Guntakal, Adoni, Manthralayam Road, Raichur, Yadgir, Wadi, Gulbarga, Solapur, Kurduvadi, Daund, Pune & Lonavala.

Panvel - Chennai Special Train (One Trip)

  • Train No. 06033 will leave Panvel at 16.20 hrs on Monday 10.09.2018 & arrive Chennai Central at 18.20 hrs next day.

Composition: Two AC 3-Tier, 12 Sleeper class.

Halts: Lonavala, Pune, Daund, Kurduvadi, Solapur, Gulbarga, Wadi, Yadgir, Mantralayam Road, Adoni, Guntakal, Gooty, Tadipatri, Muddanuru, Yerraguntla, Kadapa, Rajampeta, Renigunta, Tiruttani, Arakkonam & Perambur.

 Panvel - Tiruchchirappalli Special Train (One Trip)

  • Train No. 06031 will leave Panvel at 12.45 hrs on Monday 10.09.2018 & arrive Tiruchchirappalli at 16.30 hrs next day.

Composition: One 1st AC, One AC 2 Tier, Three AC 3-Tier, 13 Sleeper class & 4 General Second class.

Halts: Lonavala, Pune, Daund, Kurduvadi, Solapur, Gulbarga, Wadi, Yadgir, Mantralayam Road, Adoni, Guntakal, Gooty, Tadipatri, Muddanuru, Yerraguntla, Kadapa, Rajampeta, Renigunta, Tiruttani, Katpadi, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Vridhachalaam & Ariyatur.

Nearly 20 million pilgrims flock to the shrine from all over India and abroad annually. Reports inform that an estimated 3 million people visit the shrine during its annual festival from 29 August to 8 September. Velankanni has one of the country's biggest Catholic pilgrimage centres, the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, the origins of which can be traced back to the 16th century.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 11:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).