Northern Railways has announced a special Vande Bharat train service to accommodate the massive influx of devotees as millions of pilgrims are heading to Maha Kumbh 2025. The special train will operate between New Delhi, and Varanasi via Prayagraj on February 15, 16, and 17. The announcement of these trains has been made to facilitate a comfortable journey for those who are planning to visit the world’s largest spiritual gathering.
Schedule of special trains
The Indian Railway to enhance the travel experience will be running two Vande Bharat Special Train No. 02252/02251 on three days. Here are the details on the schedule of these special trains.
Train No.02252 which will run from New Delhi to Varanasi
Departure time from New Delhi is at 5:30 AM
The train will make a halt on Prayagraj at 12:00 PM
Arrival in Varanasi is expected to be at 2:20 PM
Train No.02251 which will run from Varanasi to New Delhi
The train will depart from Varanasi at 3:15 PM
Will reach Prayagraj at 5:20 PM
Arrival at New Delhi is at 11:50 PM
The Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railways, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay told to ANI, ‘’To provide special facilities to the people going to the Maha Kumbh on weekends to take holy dip, India Railways is operating a special Vande Bharat train.’’
The Uttar Pradesh government has reported to have witnessed high numbers of attendance at Maha Kumbh, making it the largest spiritual event in history. As per the latest report by ANI, more than 500 million devotees are anticipated to attend the religious gathering, this number exceeds the total population of several major nations like Russia, Brazil, and the United States.
Record-breaking devotees at Maha Kumbh 2025
The turnout for major days for bathing has been massive. On the occasion of Paush Purnima, 17 million devotees attended the event, 35 million were there during Makar Sankranti, and 76.4 million were present to mark Mauni Amavasya. Similarly, on the eve of Basant Panchami, 25.7 million devotees witnessed the holy gathering, over 14 million on Magh Purnima and 7.9 million pilgrims were there on February 9 till 4 PM.
Moreover, more than 400,000 travelers arrived for the event by boarding 140 trains, underlining the crucial role of railway services in transporting the pilgrim movement. The Uttar Pradesh government has deployed more than 200,000 Kalpavasis and is also handling logistics to ensure smooth movement.
(With inputs from ANI)