Indian Railways to implement Maha Kumbh-style crowd management at 60 stations for Holi and festive rush

Indian Railways to implement Maha Kumbh-style crowd management at 60 stations for Holi and festive rush

The Indian Railways is planning to introduce a new set of strategies at 60 major stations to control the heavy rush during Holi and other festivals.

The strategies align with those implemented during the Maha Kumbh 2025. The Prayagraj Railway Division of North Central Railways (NCR) managed to pull out well when the historic gathering of over 66 crore devotees took a holy dip over 45 days.

Nearly 5 crore devotees were transported by the division's record 16,780 trains, which made sure they arrived at their homes without problem. Indian Railways is all set to use the same strategy at 60 major stations during major festivals, including Holi.

In a high-level meeting on crowd management for Holi, the railway officials decided to implement measures such as holding areas, controlled entry, CCTV surveillance, and digital communication tools to ensure smooth passenger movement, TOI reported.

Expanding holding spaces and establishing more waiting zones at busy stations like Anand Vihar, Surat, Udhna, Patna, and New Delhi were among the main decisions made during the high-level meeting.

Similar to the Maha Kumbh approach, controlled platform access permits passengers to be admitted onto platforms gradually in order to avoid crowding.

Police and train employees will cooperate through walkie-talkies, live announcements and digital communication systems, while sophisticated monitoring systems equipped with CCTV cameras will monitor crowd pressure.

The security measures will be enhanced at the entrance of the railway stations, while only reserved category passengers will be allowed direct access. At the same time, unreserved passengers will wait in holding areas until their trains arrive. The station master will regulate ticket issuance based on crowd density.

Passenger flow will be enhanced by infrastructure improvements, such as footbridges at strategic stations that are 20 and 40 feet wide. To improve visibility and coordination during busy events, railway workers will be given unique ID cards, and they might even be given distinguishing outfits.

With these proactive measures, Indian Railways aims to ensure passenger safety and prevent any incidents of overcrowding at major railway hubs during festivals, making travel more efficient and secure.

Also, around 80 passenger trains will be kept on standby to cater to sudden surge in passengers at 60 identified stations which see high footfall on festive occasions, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Replying to debate on Railways (Amendment) Bill, Vaishnaw said a detailed roadmap has been prepared for crowd management. “We have taken the tough decision to sell tickets as per number of seats in trains so that there is no crowding. Besides, to meet the demand, around 80 special trains will be kept at nearby locations of these 60 stations so that in case of sudden surge in passengers these can be used to transport people,” he added.