How Many People can Travel to the Kumbh Mela in One Day.

From New Delhi to Allahabad by Rail

As getting a train ticket in India is a herculean task, this post aims to estimate the situation of available train seats at the peak time during the Kumbh Mela in January and February 2013. The world famous festival will observe people coming from every part of the world to witness the grandeur of the pilgrimage. Following is list of trains from New Delhi to Allahabad and the speculated waiting scenario for the ordinary public to travel by rail during the Maha Kumbh if the tickets are not booked well in advance (120 days). The list is taken from the Indian Railways website on 30-Aug-2013.

Train No.	Train Name	Origin	Dep.Time	Destination	Arr.Time	Days Of Run
Train No.	Train Name	Origin	Dep.Time	Destination	Arr.Time	M	T	W	T	F	S	S
18110	++JAT MURI ROU EX	*SUBZI MANDI	04:11	ALLAHABAD JN	15:30	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12312	+KALKA MAIL	*ADRSH NGR DELHI	05:48	ALLAHABAD JN	17:20	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
+NANDAN KANAN EX	NEW DELHI	06:30	ALLAHABAD JN	15:10	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N
15484	+MAHANANDA EXP	DELHI	06:40	ALLAHABAD JN	17:55	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
14084	+MAHANANDA EXP	#DELHI	06:40	ALLAHABAD JN	17:55	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12506	+NORTH EAST EXP	ANAND VIHAR TRM	06:50	ALLAHABAD JN	15:40	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12324	+NDLS HWH EXPRES	NEW DELHI	07:00	ALLAHABAD JN	16:35	N	N	N	Y	N	N	Y
13008	+U A TOOFAN EXP	*NEW DELHI	07:35	ALLAHABAD JN	22:05	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12488	+SEEMANCHAL EXP	ANAND VIHAR TRM	07:40	ALLAHABAD JN	16:50	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12398	+MAHABODHI EXP	NEW DELHI	14:10	ALLAHABAD JN	22:40	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
14006	+LICHCHAVI EXP	ANAND VIHAR TRM	15:50	ALLAHABAD JN	02:30	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12382	+POORVA EXPRESS	NEW DELHI	16:20	ALLAHABAD JN	02:20	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	N
12304	+POORVA EXPRESS	NEW DELHI	16:20	ALLAHABAD JN	02:05	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
02394	+ANVT PNBE SPL	#ANAND VIHAR TRM	18:35	ALLAHABAD JN	03:45	N	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y
12560	+SHIV GANGA EXP	NEW DELHI	18:55	ALLAHABAD JN	03:35	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12874	+JHARKHAND EXP	ANAND VIHAR TRM	19:50	ALLAHABAD JN	04:20	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N
12818	+JHARKHAND EXPRE	ANAND VIHAR TRM	19:50	ALLAHABAD JN	04:20	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	N
12402	+MAGADH EXPRESS	NEW DELHI	20:10	ALLAHABAD JN	05:10	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12562	+SWATANTRTA S EX	NEW DELHI	20:40	ALLAHABAD JN	05:35	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
13112	+LAL QUILA EXP	DELHI	20:50	ALLAHABAD JN	10:45	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
14218	+UNCHAHAR EXP	*SUBZI MANDI	20:57	ALLAHABAD JN	11:20	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12418	+PRAYAG RAJ EXP	NEW DELHI	21:25	ALLAHABAD JN	06:45	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12802	+PURSHOTTAM EXP	NEW DELHI	22:20	ALLAHABAD JN	07:25	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12276	+ALD DURONTO EXP	NEW DELHI	22:40	ALLAHABAD JN	06:10	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	Y
14056	+BRAHMPUTRA MAIL	DELHI	23:40	ALLAHABAD JN	08:25	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
12502	+PORVOTR S KRNTI	NEW DELHI	23:45	ALLAHABAD JN	08:50	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y
12350	+NDLS BGP EXPRES	NEW DELHI	23:45	ALLAHABAD JN	08:50	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N
12428	+NDLS REWA EXP	NEW DELHI	23:55	ALLAHABAD JN	09:25	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

The trains have around 600 (general quota) berths in sleeper class and 150 seats in third AC. The total number of trains from north India that pass through New Delhi is 28. Therefore total available seats in sleeper class are 16800 (approx.) and 4200(approx.) in Third AC. In one day total passengers under the general quota will be (16800+4200) = 21000. Actual seats including all types of quotas are 12 X 72 X 28=24192 as most trains have 12 sleeper bogies. For Third AC, taking maximum 5 bogies per train, the berth count would be 5 X 72 X 28= 10000

During the last Kumbh Mela, the total visiting devotee count reached 70 million (70 X 10,00000) within a span of 30 days. We can therefore compute the total capacity of each train assuming that there are four general bogies to be 4*100*28 (500 is capacity of one bogie)= 11500 approx. (taking lager values)

Hence, people who can travel from Delhi to Allahabad in a day are: 24500+ 11500+10000= 46000. This is current maximum capacity. But it can be estimated that during the peak Kumbh Mela season, this capacity will increase threefold per train raising the traveler count to 1,35,000. The situation is one of a kind and can only happen in a country like India.

What would you do if you were planning to attend the Kumbh Mela? Comment at the Kumbh Mela 2013 page.

How Many People can Travel to the Kumbh Mela in One Day.