NEW DELHI: Govt told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that 13,000 more general tickets than the daily average were sold at New Delhi railway station on Feb 15, the day 18 people died because of a crowd rush. “On Feb 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 reply to TMC member Mala Roy.
The minister, however, stressed that “to cater to this extra” (demand), five Kumbh special trains, each with room to accommodate 3,000 passengers, were operated from NDLS. He also pointed out that “unreserved tickets issued from a particular station on a particular date may or may not be for that station and date”, in a reference to the usual practice of passengers buying tickets well ahead of the travel date.
‘5 speical trains’
Five special trains were sufficient for 15,000 extra passengers, says minister
Five trains were sufficient for 15,000 extra passengers,” the minister said. Railways has since transferred the divisional and additional divisional managers of Delhi along with the station director and senior divisional commercial manager pending completion of an inquiry into the crowd rush.
Roy had asked for “details of average general rail ticket sale in New Delhi railway station per day during the last six months; the number of general rail ticket sale from New Delhi railway station on Feb 15, 2025; and whether sale of tickets was abnormally high, and, if so, the reasons thereof ”.
In his reply, Vaishnaw gave details of how unreserved tickets can be procured through various ticketing counters and not necessarily at the station counter. “Unreserved tickets for distance up to 199km can be procured on the same day while advance period for procuring unreserved tickets for a distance of 200 km and above is three days.
Further, from a railway station, unreserved tickets can be issued for the journey originating from any of the cluster stations defined in the system, viz from New Delhi railway station, unreserved tickets can be issued for the journey originating from any of the 57 stations of Delhi area,” he said.
