Railway Board Chairman reviews Simhastha 2028 rail infrastructure preparations

Railway Board Chairman and CEO Satish Kumar conducted an extensive review of rail infrastructure and passenger amenity projects ahead of the Simhastha-2028 festival on Sunday, September 6, 2026. Accompanied by Western Railway General Manager Ramashray Pandey and Ratlam Divisional Railway Manager Ashwani Kumar, the Chairman inspected key stations and project sites across the Indore and Ujjain sections, including Vikram Nagar, Chintaman, Pawasa, Naikhedi, and Mohanpura to ensure readiness for the mega event.

During high-level meetings, Chairman Kumar issued strict directives, insisting that all works must meet high-quality standards and be completed within stipulated time frames. He emphasized that no negligence regarding project timelines or execution will be tolerated by the railway administration. As part of the strategic planning to handle the expected surge of pilgrims, Indian Railways intends to operate over 125 special trains during the event. Furthermore, to improve crowd management and safety, the administration will deploy AI-based CCTV surveillance systems at stations. Kumar also mandated enhanced pest control measures to address rodent issues and explicitly instructed officials to ensure that pilgrims are not subjected to additional travel fares during the festival.

Station Redevelopment and Corridor Updates

At the Indore railway station, the Chairman evaluated current redevelopment progress, passenger facility upgrades, and future infrastructure requirements. He also ordered an acceleration of work on the Indore-Manmad, Indore-Khandwa, and Indore-Ujjain rail corridors. Meanwhile, progress at Ujjain station includes the completed yard remodeling, which now allows long-distance train operations across all eight platforms. Additionally, construction of two new foot overbridges at Ujjain is currently underway, with a target completion window of October to November 2027.