Three years of preparation, Rs 5000 crore investment, helped railways run over 17,000 trains for Maha Kumbh

NEW DELHI: Three years of preparation ahead of Maha Kumbh with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore to upgrade infrastructure and streamline maintenance helped the railways to run over 17,000 trains in 45 days, four times more than the last Kumbh, without a single instance of failure of locomotives, track or overhead wires.
During the Maha Kumbh period, around 4.5-5 crore people took trains for

Prayagraj

, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday while giving details of the preparation, coordination and execution to run the record number of trains. This was the largest train operation for any festival in the railway’s history. To run more passenger trains, all freight trains were shifted to the Dedicated Freight Corridors, officials said.
Vaishnaw, who visited Prayagraj, lauded the seamless coordination between different departments. He said while the original goal was to operate around 13,000 trains, the railways managed to run 16,000 trains without any problems. “Every train operated effectively, guaranteeing devotees a hassle-free trip,” he said.
Praising the efficient use of the Prayagraj junction area and the logistical arrangements, the minister said an example has been set and this can be emulated for future large-scale gatherings, including the upcoming Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh melas. “The experience gained during the historic Maha Kumbh will be of great help in managing future events,” he said.

Officials said over 200 trains were put into service in the Kumbh area. These were either trainsets or had engines on both sides to avoid shunting operations. Vaishnaw said the railways undertook extensive infrastructural and operational enhancements across nine key stations in Prayagraj, adding second entry points, 48 platforms and 21 foot-over bridges to streamline movement.
For better surveillance, 1,186 CCTV cameras were installed with over 100 having facial recognition technology. Drones were also deployed for crowd control. To manage peak-hour congestion, 23 permanent holding areas were created, while multilingual announcements were made and leaflets in 23 languages were distributed to passengers. The railways had set up 554 ticket counters, including 151 mobile unreserved ticketing counters and a QR-based system.
The national transporter carried out the doubling of the line between Banaras and Prayagraj, which included construction of a new bridge on the Ganga river.