On night of stampede, extra 10k unreserved tickets sold at NDLS

New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS) officials on Monday said they sold an extra 10,000 unreserved tickets to passengers on February 15 — the day 18 people were killed in a stampede at the station.

“NDLS typically sees the sale of around 46,000 unreserved tickets on any given day. However, on February 15, 56,000 unreserved tickets were sold,” a railways official said, requesting anonymity.

On February 15, thousands of people who wished to board Prayagraj-bound trains to attend the Maha Kumbh arrived at the New Delhi station, and a series of mismanaged circumstances — delayed trains, contradictory platform announcements, and an overwhelmed infrastructure — triggered a stampede at around 9.15pm, in which at least 18 people were killed.

Each special train for the Maha Kumbh has a capacity of around 3,000 passengers.

To be sure, most of the special trains for Prayagraj that head out from Delhi are operated from the Old Delhi and Anand Vihar railway stations. “However, on Saturday, there was a huge demand for unreserved tickets, so we decided to deploy an additional number of special trains from NDLS,” the official quoted above said.

However, officials said that NDLS is equipped to handle a much larger number of people than on the day of the stampede.

“The crowds at NDLS was lighter compared to what the station handles during Chhath pooja,” a Northern Railways official said.

According to Indian Railways data, trains headed for the Kumbh area have recorded a footfall of 29 million. “These trains include both regular and special trains,” the official said.

Security measures in aftermath of stampede

In light of the stampede on February 15, railways authorities have suspended the sale of platform tickets at NDLS between 4pm and 11pm for one week,

“The decision has been made to suspend the sale of platform tickets at New Delhi Railway Station from 4 pm to 11 pm for the next week, for crowd management,” Northern Railways chief PRO Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay said.

Indian Railways has also dedicated platform 16 for all special Kumbh-related trains. A statement issued on Sunday read, “It has been decided that all special trains in the direction of Prayagraj will be run from platform number 16 to the extent possible.”

However, platforms 12 and 14 too can be considered if needed, officials said.

A special holding area has also been set up at NDLS for the smooth movement of devotees travelling to Prayagraj.

“IR aimed to operate 13,000 trains between January 13 to February 26, however, we have already operated 12,583 until Sunday,” an official said.