2,600 tickets sold in 2 hours: How Indian Railways missed warning signs before New Delhi stampede

Heavy rush of passengers to catch a train for Mahakumbh at the New Delhi railway station. (PTI photo)

There were early signs of chaos at New Delhi Railway Station just before the deadly stampede occurred. While the mismanagement on the part of Indian Railways is under scrutiny, the unusually high sale of extra general tickets is another key factor that highlights how officials missed the warning signs.

An Indian Express report says that the Unreserved Ticketing System generated 2,600 extra general tickets on Saturday two hours before the stampede happened. On a usual day, the UTS sells average 7,000 general tickets. But on the day of the incident, 9,600 general tickets were sold, the IE report says. This means 2,600 extra general tickets were booked on the day of the deadly crush that claimed 18 lives.

A railway official told Indian Express that the crowd could have been managed better. The senior official said that in total, around 54,000 general class tickets were booked on February 15 on New Delhi Railway Station. However, this was still lesser than the numbers of February 8 and January 29 (Mauni Amavasya) when 54,600 and 58,000 general tickets were booked.

The report further adds that railway officials are not able to check tickets on several lines due to Mahakumbh surge. An official quoted by the IE said that though UTS may give a figure but the actual crowd maybe much higher. The official admitted that there is no place to stand in trains, so it becomes almost impossible to check tickets. Meanwhile, a News18 report says that no platform ticket will be issued at New Delhi Railway Station between 4:00 pm and 11:00 pm. The report also says that 'permanent holding areas' are likely to be setup at the station following the stampede.