45 minutes of chaos that led to New Delhi railway station stampede

The tragedy, the deadliest at a train station since the stampede in Mumbai in 2017, unfolded across a platforms 14 and 15

In just 45 chaotic minutes, a flood of passengers and a series of mismanaged circumstances - delayed trains, contradictory platform announcements, and overwhelmed infrastructure - transformed the busy New Delhi railway station into a death trap for 18 people on Saturday night.

People inside an overcrowded train at the New Delhi railway station on Sunday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The tragedy, the deadliest at a train station since the Elphinstone Station stampede in Mumbai in 2017, unfolded across a platforms 14 and 15 and a pedestrian bridge that led to it when thousands of pilgrims seeking to reach Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh and regular passengers converged in what officials described as “an unprecedented rush”.

According to eyewitnesses present at the station, crowds had begun swelling abnormally at the Ajmeri Gate and Paharganj entrances around 7pm. The crowds were mostly bound for platforms 12 through 15, berths where services heading towards or passing through Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are typically boarded. Much of the rush funnelled in through the Ajmeri Gate entrance abutting platform 16. A dysfunctional escalator and a blocked staircase toward platforms 14-15 created critical bottlenecks on the three-sided foot over-bridge network that services all 16 platforms.

“Crowds began to increase from 7 p.m. onwards,” said Rakesh Pal Gaderiya, a porter who worked at the station for 14 years. “The crowds were unprecedented.”

The situation deteriorated as two major services - the Swatantra Senani Express and Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express - ran behind schedule, leaving platforms packed with waiting passengers. By 8:30 pm, thousands more had arrived for three Bihar-bound trains scheduled to depart between 9:05 p.m. and 10:10 p.m., all routing through Prayagraj.

A surge of general ticket holders, hoping to board any available train to the religious festival, added to the growing pressure. Railway officials who asked not to be named would later note that unreserved 1,500 tickets were being sold every hour, with no systems in place to control entry and exit on the staircases.

The critical moment came around 9:15 pm, though railway officials and police disagree on the exact timing. With the Patna-bound Magadh Express standing at platform 14 and the Jammu-bound Uttar Sampark Kranti Express at platform 15, an announcement about a special train to Prayagraj echoed through the station.

This announcement triggered fatal confusion. Both the regular Prayagraj Express and the newly announced Prayagraj Special began with the same name. Railway officials say they announced the special train for platform 12, but police and multiple witnesses report hearing platform 16 announced. Either way, the damage was done.

“There was no space for people to stand and I could hear people scream too, jostling for space,” said Kamlesh Kumar, 30, who sells books at platform 14-15. “I could not step out either as people were pressed up against my stall. The Magadh Express was at platform number 14, which was slightly late. The Uttar Sampark Kranti was at 15 and the Prayagraj Express was yet to come. Crowds of all three trains had completely packed the station.”

The stampede’s epicentre was the foot over-bridge at the Ajmeri gate end. As passengers with unreserved tickets who couldn’t board the Magadh Express joined those waiting for the Swatantrata Senani Express and Prayagraj Express in rushing toward the announced platform, the crush became deadly. Women and children fell on the stairs, only to be trampled by the unstoppable flow of people.

A senior police officer described how the confusion spread: “We suspect that many passengers only heard the initial name of the train and those waiting for the Prayagraj Express at platform number 14 started rushing... The sudden confusion and rush on the staircase and the bridge led to the stampede.”

Railway officials characterised the rush as “unprecedented,” stating they attempted to address the overcrowding by running five special trains. These departures, staggered between 10pm and midnight, came too late for those already trapped in the deadly crush.

Four special evacuation trains were arranged, departing one after another until midnight, while the originally delayed trains finally left between midnight and 3 a.m. Sunday.

The railways maintained no platform changes occurred and no trains were cancelled. Nonetheless, the chaos, which railway officials say created a “complete chock-a-block condition” between 9:30 and 10:15 pm.

In the hours after, when HT visited the platforms arounds midnight, signs of the melee were stark: Scattered slippers, torn bags and abandoned belongings strewn across the staircase, bridge and platforms.

By Sunday morning, the crowds had returned to platforms 14, 15 and 16, putting in spotlight an infrastructure mostly at edge of collapse.