Maha Kumbh Mela 2025: The North Central Railway (NCR) seems absolutely ready to handle the large inflow of pilgrims for the Maha Kumbh, with plans to function over 300 trains, together with 80 particular companies, to make sure environment friendly transportation for devotees arriving in Prayagraj, an NCR official mentioned.
Hours forward of the graduation of the Maha Kumbh, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of NCR, Shashi Kant Tripathi, informed ANI that the railway authorities have accomplished all mandatory preparations, together with crowd administration, ticket reserving counters, practice companies, and safety preparations. Offering particulars about practice companies, the CPRO mentioned that North Central Railways can even introduce unreserved short-distance common trains beginning tomorrow.
Shashi Kant Tripathi mentioned, “We started our preparations for the Maha Kumbh two years in the past. Now, our preparations have reached a stage the place we will confidently welcome all our passengers. Our long-distance particular trains commenced companies on January 1, together with 50 operations. Our ring rail companies began on January 10, and unreserved short-distance common trains will start tomorrow, coinciding with the primary day of the Maha Kumbh.”
He added, “Greater than 80 Mela Particular Trains will function tomorrow, bringing the entire variety of trains in service to round 300. These will facilitate the motion of passengers to their locations. Since Makar Sankranti is the day after tomorrow, we’ve got additionally began inward particular practice companies.”
The railway official famous that workers from throughout the nation had been deployed in Prayagraj to assist the Kumbh operations, with help from Indian Railways’ regional departments.
“Round 4,000 personnel from the Central Reserve Police Pressure (CRPF), 10,000 from the Authorities Railway Police (GRP), and officers from numerous different departments have been stationed in Prayagraj,” Tripathi mentioned.
He defined, “If we take a look at our plan for tomorrow, we’re geared up to evacuate round 4-5 lakh folks from Prayagraj in the event that they want to return to their locations. To realize this, workers from completely different zonal railways, in addition to further assist from Indian Railways, have been deployed. We now have loco pilots, guards, controllers, and personnel from the departments of commerce and tourism working to make sure clean operations.”
Discussing crowd administration measures, Tripathi mentioned authorities had carried out a number of restrictions, together with devoted entry and exit factors and operational ticket counters within the Mela space. “To handle the crowds successfully, we’ve got imposed some restrictions. Residents can now enter the station from town facet (Chief Highway) and exit from the Civil Strains facet, making certain unidirectional motion and avoiding criss-crossing. Ticket counters and Yatri Ashray Sheds within the Mela space are operational to help passengers. Our foremost goal is to make sure pilgrims attain their locations with ease and ease,” he mentioned.
To deal with language obstacles, the NCR has launched multilingual bulletins, toll-free numbers, and data screens, the CPRO said. “We now have carried out multilingual bulletins and ensured that our toll-free numbers and data screens are multilingual. Moreover, our workers, who’ve been skilled and deployed from numerous elements of the nation, will information pilgrims of their native languages,” Tripathi added.
Earlier, on January 2, Dilip Kumar, Government Director of Data and Publicity of the Railway Board, mentioned that railways would run round 13,000 trains throughout the Kumbh Mela to accommodate the big variety of guests.
“The railways are working with the slogan ‘Divya Kumbh, Bhavya Kumbh, Digital Maha Kumbh.’ Round 40 crore persons are anticipated to attend. We now have deliberate to function 13,000 trains throughout the Kumbh,” Kumar mentioned. To make sure clean transportation for thousands and thousands of devotees, railway stations close to key Kumbh Mela venues have seen vital enhancements in passenger amenities.
“Passenger amenities at distinguished stations close to the Kumbh have been considerably enhanced. Passenger facilities have been improved, and each measure is being taken to offer higher companies,” Kumar assured. The Maha Kumbh, celebrated as soon as each 12 years, is anticipated to attract over 45 crore devotees. In the course of the occasion, pilgrims collect on the Sangam–the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati (now extinct)–to take a holy dip.
The Maha Kumbh will conclude on February 26, with main bathing rituals (Shahi Snan) scheduled on January 14 (Makar Sankranti), January 29 (Mauni Amavasya), and February 3 (Basant Panchami).
