Owing to the massive influx of devotees reaching Prayagraj to participate in Mahakumbh, Northern Railways on Sunday announced four special trains. A day after the deadly stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station, four special trains are announced from Delhi to Prayagraj and Darbhanga. Three trains are being launched to Prayagraj junction, one of these trains will depart from Anand Vihar Terminal, and the other two from NDLS.
These special trains are introduced to manage the increased passenger traffic during the Mela and provide added convenience to the travellers. “For the convenience of the rail passengers and to clear extra rush during Mahakumbh Mela, Railways have decided to run Mahakumbh Mela Special trains,” said the official statement by Railways.
List of Special trains being run by Railways
- Train Number-04420: New Delhi to Prayagraj Jn via New Delhi-Ghaziabad-Moradabad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raebareli Jn-Phaphamau Jn at 19.00 Hrs
- Train Number-04422: New Delhi to Prayagraj Jn via New Delhi-Ghaziabad-Moradabad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raebareli -Phaphamau Jn at 21.00 Hrs.
- Train Number-04424: Anand Vihar Terminal to Prayagraj Jn. via Ghaziabad-Moradabad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raebareli-Phaphamau at 20.00 Hrs
- Train Number-04418: New Delhi-Darbhanga Jn. Schedule departure 15:00 Hrs with following route-: New Delhi-Ghaziabad-Chipyana Buzurg-Kanpur-Lucknow-Phapjamau-Varanasi-Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn-Patliputra Jn-Darbhanga.
New Delhi Railway Station stampede
A a deadly stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station claimed 18 lives on Saturday. According to police, two major trains — the Swatantrata Senani Express and the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express — were already delayed, leaving platforms 13, 14, and 15 packed with restless travellers. Then came an announcement that a special train to Prayagraj would depart from platform 16.
“A train to Prayagraj was already at platform 14, where the Prayagraj Express usually departs. When the announcement about the special train came, many passengers assumed it was their regular train and rushed toward platform 16,” police sources told PTI.
The Delhi Police said the confusion happened because of the announcement of the trains having the same initial name starting with ‘Prayagraj’. “The announcement of the Prayagraj Special arriving at platform 16 led to confusion because the Prayagraj Express was already at platform 14.
People who couldn’t reach their train at platform 14 thought their train was arriving at platform 16 leading to the stampede. “Additionally, there were four trains heading to Prayagraj, out of which three were delayed, causing unexpected overcrowding,” a police official said.
(With inputs from Anamika Gaur)
