The Ministry of Railways is working on making extensive arrangements for the Kumbh Mela and 992 special trains will be run for this huge religious gathering to be held in Prayagraj in January. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav himself has given this information. He made seven posts on the social media platform X and told what preparations the Railway Ministry has made for the Kumbh Mela. He wrote “Kumbh Mela – World’s largest religious gathering! Indian Railways is ready to provide record trains, advanced tracks, and better facilities for devotees for Kumbh Mela 2025! Know all railway facilities”
After this, in seven posts, the Railway Minister first told the important dates. After this, he told that 140 trains would be run daily from the Prayagraj region. 174 racks have been planned for special trains. MEMU or DEMU trains have 16 coaches and long-distance trains have 20 coaches. The number of special trains has been increased from 695 in 2019 to 992 in 2025. The number of normal trains was 5000 in 2019, which will be 6580 in 2025. Apart from this, he said that the Railways have also completed the work of laying second lines on many routes and work has been done by spending crores of rupees for the convenience of passengers.
933 crore budget for infrastructure
According to railway officials, apart from running special trains, the ministry has set aside Rs 933 crore for the construction and upgradation of various infrastructure and amenities for passengers. Apart from this, the doubling of railway tracks is being done at a fast pace for Rs 3,700 crore for the smooth movement of trains in the Prayagraj division and surrounding areas.
Ministers conduct video conferences regularly.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and two Ministers of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu and V Somanna held meetings on Saturday to review the arrangements to handle the huge rush of devotees during the event starting from January 12. “They also hold regular video conferences with senior railway officials, including general managers of the concerned zones like Northern Railway, North Central Railway, and North Eastern Railway, to take stock of the preparation activities,” the official said.
30 to 50 crore devotees are expected to attend Kumbh
According to the official, divisional managers of the concerned railway divisions like Prayagraj, Varanasi, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, and Lucknow also attend these meetings to provide regular updates on various development works. As 30 to 50 crore devotees are expected to attend the event, the Railway Ministry has planned to run 992 special trains to Prayagraj in addition to 6,580 regular trains from various cities.