Indian Railways has launched 137 special trains to accommodate the huge influx of devotees attending the fourth day of the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. These special services complement the 349 regular trains already serving the city. In the first two days, over 15.6 lakh passengers arrived at various Prayagraj stations. The special trains include long-distance options and ring rail services connecting nearby pilgrimage towns like Chitrakoot, Ayodhya, and Varanasi.
During the 46-day Mahakumbh, Indian Railways plans to operate over 13,100 trains, including more than 10,000 regular services and around 3,100 special trains. This is a significant increase, with the number of special trains being 4.5 times higher than in the previous Kumbh Mela. Of these, 1,800 trains are for short-distance routes, while 700 cater to long-distance travel. Additionally, 560 services are running on four designated ring rail routes connecting Prayagraj with other cities. These routes include Prayagraj-Sangam Prayag-Jaunpur-Prayag-Prayagraj, Prayagraj-Ayodhya-Varanasi-Prayagraj, Govindpuri-Prayagraj-Chitrakoot-Govindpuri, and Jhansi-Govindpuri-Prayagraj-Manikpur-Chitrakoot-Jhansi.
Over 3.5 crore devotees visited the Mahakumbh on the second day, with people traveling from across India and abroad. To manage the increasing footfall, additional train services are being arranged, with the Bhopal division preparing to introduce 15 more pairs of trains in the coming days.
To handle the rush, nine railway stations around the Mahakumbh area have been upgraded. Major stations like Prayagraj, Phaphamau, Rambagh, and Jhunsi have been remodeled to manage more train operations. Subedarganj station has been developed as a satellite station to support Prayagraj Junction, which handled 45% of the crowd during the 2019 Kumbh. The Prayagraj region now boasts 48 platforms, following the addition of seven new ones.
Passenger facilities have been improved, with the introduction of 17 new permanent Yatri Ashrayas, increasing the total accommodation capacity from 21,000 to over 1.1 lakh. Stations now feature a systematic color-coding scheme to guide passengers through waiting areas. Enhanced amenities such as upgraded toilets, improved waiting rooms, drinking water facilities, and food arrangements have been put in place. Additionally, Yatri Suvidha Kendras at Prayagraj Junction and Prayagraj Chheoki offer services like wheelchairs, luggage trolleys, hotel and taxi bookings, baby milk, and medicines.
Security has also been intensified. Approximately 5,900 personnel, including 3,200 Railway Protection Force (RPF) members, have been deployed across the nine stations in Prayagraj. Surveillance has been bolstered with 1,186 CCTV cameras, 116 of which are equipped with Face Recognition Systems. For the first time, drone cameras are being used to monitor tracks and crowds on approach roads to stations.