Network Coverage for trains to Puri might dip under 40% : RailYatri.in

Much anticipated Rath Yatra is knocking at the doors, with hardly a few weeks to go before the annual festival. In the next few weeks a lot of people from across the country will brace up to attend the grand Rath Yatra in Puri when the Network Coverage in train will be below 40%. RailYatri.in, leading website for unique train travel content, predicts that passengers may face mobile and Internet network connectivity issue along all routes to Odisha.

Network Coverage along railway routes analysis by RailYatri.in states that trains from Kolkata to Puri have network coverage of 71% all year round, while the network coverage of trains from Northern India is 67%. But, during the Rath Yatra period the network coverage availability will dip to 41%. Even Airtel and Vodafone, who offer maximum network coverage along the Odisha bound routes, will fail at providing sufficient network coverage to the Rath Yatra devotees.

In the words of Manish Rathi, CEO and Co-founder, RailYatri.in “Modern day passengers like to do things on the go. Sitting idle beside the window seat is not the modern traveller’s pastime. They like to book meals, conveyance to destination, check live train status and do a host lot of things during their travels. But given the coincidence of monsoon with Rath Yatra, they have to pre-plan everything leaving nothing to chance. To counter the unavailability of network, RailYatri.in would suggest every passenger to pre-book their meals and make arrangements for their transportation from Puri station.”

To save the passengers from facing discomforts, the RailYatri app offers pre-booking of healthy meals, delivered to the berth. There is also scope for bus booking from the Puri railway station. In case of any medical emergency in the to and fro journeys, the passengers can always use the Medical Emergency feature to locate the nearest medical facilities (with their contacts and details).

Network availability is not the only inconvenience that monsoons will bring for the Rath Yatra passengers. RailYatri.in also anticipates that 74.26% of trains to Puri during the Rath Yatra period will be delayed by more than an hour at least. Trains from Howrah and Sealdah will remain delayed, but may not cause extensive delays to the travel plans of the Rath Yatra visitors. But trains from Northern India (stations such as New Delhi, Allahabad, Mughal Sarai and Kanpur Central) have a probability of huge delays.

Historic data through Speedometer feature of RailYatri.in suggests that trains in monsoon season only attain 45% of their top speed potential (passengers can check the speed of the train anytime using the Speedometer feature on RailYatri app and do their own calculations). Commenting on the issue, Manish said, “Indian railways has always given preference to passenger safety over speed, and that is commendable. But at the same time the one who is travelling, hopes to also reach the destination on time. The only way out is to book tickets in Premium trains. In the delay measurement, Premium trains face least delays even when it is raining heavily.”