On February 15, 2025, a tragic stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station resulted in the deaths of 18 people, including four children and 11 women, and injuries to 15 others. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament on Friday that the incident was triggered by a large piece of luggage falling from a passenger's head.

The incident occurred around 8:48 pm on foot-over-bridge 3, which connects platforms 14 and 15. At the time, the station was heavily crowded with passengers traveling to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival. Many passengers were carrying large headloads, which hampered smooth movement on the narrow, 25-foot-wide footbridge.

According to the high-level inquiry committee's report, the falling headload caused immediate confusion and distress, leading to passengers tripping on the stairs. The pressure from the falling luggage was transferred down the stairs, resulting in a surge and people losing their balance. Post-mortem examinations revealed that the victims died from traumatic asphyxia.

Railway records indicated that 7,600 unreserved tickets were sold that evening, with crowds building up from 6 pm onwards. The committee found that passenger density had gradually increased on the foot-over-bridge after 8:15 pm, even though sufficient crowd management protocols were in place.

In response to the tragedy, Indian Railways will implement comprehensive crowd management measures across 73 stations that periodically face heavy passenger rush. These measures include creating permanent holding areas outside stations and allowing passengers onto platforms only when trains arrive. Pilot projects are already underway at New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Ghaziabad. The railways also plan to introduce complete access control at the 73 identified stations.

Furthermore, the railways will introduce new foot-over-bridge designs that are wider, with ramps, to replace existing narrow structures. Advanced surveillance systems, including CCTV networks and war rooms for coordinated crowd management, will be installed at all heavy-traffic stations. Digital communication equipment, such as walkie-talkies and public announcement systems, will also be deployed to improve coordination during peak hours.

All major stations will have a senior officer designated as station director with financial powers to make immediate decisions during crowd situations. Station directors will also control ticket sales based on station capacity and available train services.

The Railway Minister stated that the government has paid a total of ₹2.01 crore to 33 victims and their family members. This includes ₹10 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased, ₹2.5 lakh each to the grievously injured, and ₹1 lakh each to those with simple injuries.

This incident is the deadliest railway station incident since Mumbai's Elphinstone Road stampede in 2017, which killed 23 people.