Jammu: Enhancing the facilities for pilgrims visiting the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, the Jammu division of Northern Railways on Wednesday announced a major expansion of passenger amenities at SMVD Railway station in Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the famous temple atop Jammu and Kashmir’s Trikuta hills, an official said.
For the first time since the formation of Jammu Division in January last year, modern catering and commercial facilities have been introduced at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) Katra Station to improve passenger amenities and ensure convenient, safe travel for pilgrims from across the country, a railway spokesman said.
Under these initiatives, he said new catering stalls have been allotted by the Division on Platform No. 1 and Platform No. 4/5 of SMVD Station.
Through these stalls, passengers will get clean, hot and affordable food, snacks and tea on the platform itself, he said, adding that passengers waiting for trains will no longer have to go outside the station premises for food and beverages, saving both their time and money.
In the same series, keeping in mind the nutritional and health needs of passengers, a modern milk booth has also been allotted on Platform No. 2/3. This milk booth will especially ensure the availability of pure, fresh and packed milk at any time for small children, elderly and sick passengers.
A key initiative in this expansion is the allotment of the station’s long-closed refreshment room by IRCTC, paving the way for improved catering facilities for passengers, the spokesman said.
The 24×7 refreshment room will offer pilgrims a convenient place to rest and enjoy meals, including thalis for families, he said, adding the one-time allotment is expected to ensure consistent service quality and an organised catering experience.
Meanwhile, the spokesman said Jammu Division has also taken a major step to ensure clean and standard drinking water for rail passengers.
A special inspection drive against unauthorised packaged drinking water bottles was conducted at Jammu Railway Station and in various trains.
The main objective of this drive, being jointly conducted by the Railway and IRCTC, is to protect the health of passengers and to provide them only Railway-approved ‘Rail Neer’ and other approved brands of water, he said.
Under this special drive, he said intensive checking was carried out at the station and in various trains on October 27 and 28, resulting in the seizure of a total of 43 boxes of unauthorised and non-standard brand drinking water bottles.
To completely eliminate the illegal sale of unauthorised brands, such surprise inspections and special drives will continue to be conducted regularly at the Divisional level, he said, adding that strict legal and departmental action will be taken against vendors violating the rules.