13,000 extra general tickets sold on Feb 15: Vaishnaw on Delhi stampede

Railways sold 13,000 extra general tickets at NDLS on Feb 15, the day of the stampede that killed 18; Rs 2.01 crore in compensation disbursed to 33 affected families, says railway minister

The government informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that general ticket sale at New Delhi railway station on February 15 exceeded the daily average by 13,000, coinciding with the day 18 people lost their lives due to a crowd rush. 

“On February 15, approximately 49,000 general tickets were issued from New Delhi railway station, which were 13,000 more than the daily average number of tickets sold during the previous six months,” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written response to TMC MP Mala Roy.  

  The minister emphasised that to address the additional demand, “Five Kumbh special trains, each with room to accommodate 3,000 passengers, were operated from NDLS”. He also noted that “unreserved tickets issued from a particular station on a particular date may or may not be for that station and date,” referring to the common practice of passengers purchasing tickets in advance for future travel.  

 

15,000 extra passengers

According to the minister, the five special trains had the capacity to accommodate 15,000 additional passengers. Meanwhile, the Railways have reassigned the divisional and additional divisional managers of Delhi, along with the station director and senior divisional commercial manager, pending the conclusion of an inquiry into the crowd surge.  

  Roy had sought information on the average number of general rail tickets sold per day at New Delhi railway station over the past six months, the number of general tickets issued on February 15, and whether there was an unusual surge in sales, along with reasons for the increase.  

  In his response, Vaishnaw explained the different ways unreserved tickets can be purchased, not just from station counters. He detailed that "unreserved tickets for distances up to 199 km can be procured on the same day, while the advance period for distances of 200 km and above is three days." Additionally, he highlighted that tickets issued from a railway station can be for journeys starting from any of the cluster stations designated in the system.

  “For instance, from New Delhi railway station, unreserved tickets can be issued for travel originating from any of the 57 stations in the Delhi area,” he said.

 

Delhi station stampede: Compensation for victims

Vaishnaw said Rs 2.01 crore had been disbursed to 33 families affected by the February 15 stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. 

“In the instant case, an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of the kin of each deceased, Rs 2.5 lakh each to the grievously injured and Rs 1 lakh each to the simple injured has been paid,” Vaishnaw said in a written response in the Lok Sabha.  

The stampede occurred on the evening of February 15 amid a large crowd of devotees travelling to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.  

  Responding to additional queries from members regarding the stampede and the facilities provided for devotees, the railway minister outlined various infrastructure improvements. “Infrastructure improvement/augmentation/capacity enhancement works in the Prayagraj area of more than Rs 5,000 crore have been completed,” he said, citing projects such as track doubling and road underpasses and overbridges.  

  Vaishnaw highlighted that over 17,300 trains operated between January 13 and February 28 during the Maha Kumbh period, transporting 42.4 million passengers. "This includes more than 3,000 special trains, a significant increase from the 694 trains operated during the 2019 Kumbh. For the first time, Ring Rail services connecting key religious sites like Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Chitrakoot were operated on a daily basis during the Mela,” he said.  

  He also detailed extensive upgrades at Prayagraj station, including improvements to the circulating area, parking facilities, amenities for differently-abled individuals, better signage, platform resurfacing, installation of drinking water booths, Ashray Kendras, toilets, widening of approach roads, construction of second entry points, and new foot overbridges.

 

[With agency inputs]