Vaishnaw, who arrived in Prayagraj from Varanasi to assess the Railways’ preparedness for the event, expects between 1.5 to 2 crore passengers to travel by train to the city for the Maha Kumbh, which will begin on January 13 and conclude on February 26, marking Mahashivaratri.
Following an inspection of several stations under the Northeast Railway, Northern Railway, and North Central Railway zones in Prayagraj, the minister highlighted key infrastructure upgrades.
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“I also inspected the new bridge over the Ganga, which will be inaugurated soon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is the first new bridge over the Ganga here in 100 years,” Vaishnaw said post the visit, PTI reported. He added that he personally reviewed five stations, noting that the holding areas where devotees will wait for their trains were well-equipped and clearly organised, with colour coding on platforms and tickets to guide passengers.
Vaishnaw introduced the mobile Unreserved Ticket System (UTS) in Prayagraj, which will be used for the first time during the Maha Kumbh. This system, previously implemented during the Rath Yatra in Puri, will simplify ticketing for the event.
In addition to enhanced passenger facilities, significant upgrades have been made to railway infrastructure. “The railway track between Prayagraj and Varanasi has been doubled, along with the Phaphamau-Janghai section. We have also constructed a second entrance at key stations, including Jhansi, Phaphamau, Prayagraj, Subedarganj, Naini, and Cheoki,” Vaishnaw stated.
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A master control room at Prayagraj station will receive live feeds from the control rooms set up at various stations, along with CCTV feeds from Maha Kumbh Nagar and local police for real-time monitoring.
Drawing from previous large-scale events like the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya and the Rath Yatra in Puri, Vaishnaw mentioned that the team had applied lessons learned from those operations to the current preparations. More than 23 holding areas and 48 platforms have been created at stations in Prayagraj, along with the construction of 21 foot overbridges and the installation of 554 ticketing kiosks.
The Indian Railways has invested over Rs 5,000 crore in preparing for the Maha Kumbh, which highlights the scale of the event. Vaishnaw was accompanied by Railway Board CEO Satish Kumar and other senior officials during the review.
