The sale of New Delhi Railway Station has been stopped due to a heavy rush for Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj following the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela 2025. This comes after a tragic stampede incident took place on Saturday at the station where 18 people lost their lives and several others were seriously injured.
The sale of platform tickets has been suspended from 4 PM to 11 PM for the next week. The stampede incident at the New Delhi railway station occurred when Prayagraj-bound trains were delayed, leading to a rush to the platforms. When trains arrived at the platform, the station master made an announcement, which caused people to start boarding the crowd where the tragic incident took place.
Railway authorities ordered a high-level investigation into the incident, which was triggered by confusion over a platform change announcement. The surge in passengers took place within just 10 minutes, creating chaos at the station.
"This decision has been made to enhance crowd management," stated the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Northern Railway. The decision taken by a two-member committee formed by the Railway Ministry to investigate the stampede incident.
The railway officials visited platform 14—where the Prayagraj Express was stationed—to secure CCTV footage for their inquiry. The incident occurred at around 9 PM and 9:20 PM on Saturday night, where people were waiting for the delayed Swatantrata Senani Express and Bhubaneswar Rajdhani, led to chaos.
According to reports, 7,000 general class tickets were typically booked daily between 6 PM and 8 PM. However, on the day of the stampede, over 9,600 tickets were booked during that period, contributing to the overwhelming crowd pressure.