Holi 2025: Huge Pre-Festival Crowd At Railway Stations, Bus Stands In Delhi
People were seen waiting for many hours to board buses or trains to reach their hometowns and celebrate Holi with family and loved ones.
Published : March 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM IST
New Delhi: Due to Holi and the subsequent long weekend, bus stands and railway stations in Delhi are witnessing huge rush as people are returning to their hometowns or visiting relatives.
The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is plying 250 additional buses from Delhi's Kashmiri Gate, Anand Vihar, Sarai Kale Khan and Ghaziabad's Kaushambi depot, while Northern Railway is running multiple special trains and has assured to introduce on-demand trains if the number of general class passengers travelling on unreserved tickets increases.
Ajay Kumar, who reached Anand Vihar railway station to go home for the festival of colours, said he hails from Bihar's Motihari district. Despite trying to get a reserved ticket, he could not manage even a single confirmed ticket in any train. He has arrived at the railway station with four members of his family to go home on general tickets. "There is a lot of crowd at the station and I am feeling a bit nervous. But it is necessary for us to go home because we want to celebrate Holi with our loved ones," he said.
Another passenger Rita Devi said she is heading towards Kushinagar. She reached the railway station with her father and four family members. They did not have reserved tickets and missed an earlier train. Due to the crowd, she and her family members have been waiting at the railway station since morning. She said she is planning to board an unreserved special train in the evening.
Bachcha Sharma said he has been waiting for a train to Kushinagar at Anand Vihar railway station while Lal Bihari Singh said he has a reserved ticket but has reached the railway station five hours in advance as there is a lot of crowd.
To avoid crowd at railway stations, the sale of platform tickets is banned in Delhi till March 14. Platform tickets are only being given to those helping the sick or elderly passengers to board trains.
Assistant regional manager at UPSRTC Anshu Bhatnagar said 250 additional buses are being operated for the convenience of passengers on Holi and a day before the festival, crowds have increased at all bus stations.
Santosh Kumar said he reached Kaushambi depot with 10 people to go to Prayagraj and got the bus after waiting for about two hours. Ajay said he has to go to his hometown in Kanpur to celebrate Holi. Siddharth told he reached Kaushambi depot with his parents to go home in Bareilly and had to wait for an hour. Chandrapal said he waited for an hour to board a bus to Shikarpur.
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