Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw congratulates railway workers for the work done by them during the Maha Kumb Mela 2025, a day after completion of the mega event, at Prayagraj Junction, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (PTI Photo)Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Thursday lauded the hard work put in by over 10,000 railway workers involved in handling the passengers visiting the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, which concluded Wednesday.Around 17,000 trains handled over 4 crore passengers at nine stations in Prayagraj between January 13 and February 26, the Ministry of Railways said.Vaishnaw, who visited Prayagraj station Thursday, reviewed the works undertaken by railway staff during the period.Extending his appreciation to all employees, Vaishnaw said, “This was a very important event. This is a message of social harmony and unity in our society. By operating over 16,000 trains, about 5 crore devotees were carried by railways for Sangam darshan. We started work two and a half years ago and made an investment of around `5,000 crore.”“All departments of the state and the Centre and the employees of the railways worked together,” the minister said.A senior railway ministry official said, “A total of 16,870 trains were run, surpassing the originally planned 13,000 trains, marking a fourfold increase compared to last Kumbh (2019). This included 7,327 special trains and 9,543 regular trains. A total of 4.24 crore passengers were handled at the nine key railway stations of Prayagraj alone.”“To manage peak-hour congestion, 23 permanent holding areas were set up. Ticketing facilities were expanded with 554 counters, including 151 mobile Unreserved Ticketing System counters and a QR-based system,” the official said.© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd