Deathtrap: 950 bodies recovered from Delhi’s railway stations in 2024

Delhi: Delhi’s railway stations have become sites of an unspoken tragedy. Every day, bodies—mangled, unrecognisable, often reduced to severed limbs and torn flesh—are pulled from the tracks or found abandoned on platforms. Some are the casualties of reckless crossings, some are homeless individuals succumbing to illness, and others are the victims of inexplicable violence—stuffed into duffel bags, their hands placed neatly beside them.

The numbers are staggering. Unidentified corpses pile up in mortuaries, never claimed, never mourned. Railway police, overstretched and under-resourced, retrieve the dead with routine detachment. Yet, despite the horror, little is being done to address this silent crisis.

Rising toll

A surge in deaths at Delhi’s railway stations has overwhelmed police and mortuary staff, with bodies piling up at an alarming rate. According to Delhi Police, 964 deaths were recorded at railway stations between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025—an increase of 14% from the 829 fatalities in the previous year.

The data suggests a consistent rise in deaths over the past five years. In 2022-23, 835 bodies were recovered, while 582 were recorded in 2021-22. However, in 2020-21, there was a brief decline of 15.8%, with 490 bodies reported.

Adding to the grim tally, the February 15 stampede at New Delhi Railway Station—triggered by a rush for the Mahakumbh—claimed 18 lives, pushing authorities to reassess security measures. Even before the stampede, nine unidentified deaths had been recorded at railway stations in February alone, underscoring the persistent risks passengers face.

A multitude of the deceased breathed their last within the stations, dying from ailments that had likely plagued them for some time. On the other hand, a significant number of bodies were recovered from railway tracks, mangled beyond recognition. The gruesome state of many of these bodies—limbs twisted, faces disfigured, entrails spilling out—paints a disturbing picture of the horrors unfolding daily. In some cases, bodies have been stuffed into duffel bags, their severed hands placed neatly beside them.

With no identification on most of these bodies, they remain unclaimed in mortuaries, highlighting the growing challenge for law enforcement and forensic teams.

The challenge for police

Security personnel cite logistical constraints and resource shortages as key obstacles in tackling the crisis. Despite sporadic efforts, no significant policy changes have been implemented to curb the rising fatalities.

A large number of deaths result from negligence—passengers crossing tracks instead of using footbridges, or falling from overcrowded trains. Some fatalities occur during tussles inside moving trains, leading to victims being thrown off.

Between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025, the number of unidentified dead bodies (UIDBs) in Delhi rose by 12.8%, increasing from 3,862 in 2023-24 to 4,432 in 2024-25. Disturbingly, 21.7% of these UIDBs were recovered from railway stations, compared to 21.4% in the previous year.

Despite a consistent recovery rate, the process of identifying these bodies remains inadequate. Patriot accessed data indicating that seven police stations fall under the Railways department of Delhi Police: Subzi Mandi, Sarai Rohilla, Old Delhi, New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Delhi Cantonment, and Hazrat Nizamuddin. Among them, Old Delhi Railway Station leads in fatalities, followed closely by New Delhi Railway Station.

Old Delhi Railway Station: The epicentre of railway fatalities

Between September 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025, Old Delhi Railway Station recorded 85 deaths. In the same five-month period, 278 bodies were recovered, accounting for over 30% of total fatalities under its jurisdiction, which includes Shahdara Railway Station.

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The numbers at Old Delhi Railway Station far exceed those of the next two highest stations—Sarai Rohilla (30 UIDBs) and Hazrat Nizamuddin (28 UIDBs).

A senior police official stated, “If a passenger or person does not have any sense of civic sense, it is not really our fault. We cannot keep enforcing rules if they do not understand our warning the first or the second time. Most just keep doing it, sadly at the cost of their lives.”

Another official from the Government Railway Police (GRP) highlighted a major issue: “Even when a train is moving, they jump out. The jump, on most instances, is successful, resulting in minor injuries and abrasions. However, sometimes the landing is misjudged, resulting in them being sliced in two through an impact on a pole, or just dying upon contact with the ground.”

According to Zonal Integrated Police Network (ZIPNET) data, Platforms one and two at Old Delhi Railway Station witness the highest number of fatalities.

During a visit to the station, Patriot found a disturbing pattern. Ragpickers scavenged along the tracks just minutes before a train’s arrival, while a man recklessly crossed the tracks to charge his phone—choosing convenience over safety. Platform 1 lacked a charging port, and rather than using the designated path, the man took the risk. A Railway Protection Force (RPF) official stood nearby but made no effort to intervene. “None of them have any civic sense. We keep warning them, but nobody is willing to listen.”

 

Another senior police official revealed that most deaths occur at night, when the station becomes a refuge for drug addicts. “Drug addicts are a mainstay here. At night, they know certain areas from which they can enter, through which they make themselves comfortable inside the premises. Since they are heavily intoxicated, they do not remain in their senses. We do not have personnel deployed at these junctures either, which eventually means that these deaths can be seldom prevented. On the other hand, considering the fact that most trains are in motion, even if someone is murdered by being pushed outside, it is very difficult to ascertain that.”

A senior police official from Old Delhi Railway Station explained, “Most of the deaths that are recorded at this station are actually not from here. Many of the dead bodies are collected and recorded at the smaller halt stations that come between New Delhi and whatever is the destination location.”

A senior RPF official emphasised the challenge of maintaining order with limited manpower. “On a normal day, there is a three lakh footfall at Old Delhi station, and to contend with the demand, we have a maximum of 30 personnel covering the entirety of the station across all platforms and outside the station. Thus, having one police officer for every 10,000 passengers makes it impossible to maintain the law and order situation here.”

The fatalities recorded at the New Delhi Railway Station are lower than deaths at Old  Delhi Railway Station despite the former being the busiest station in Delhi, with a daily footfall of over five lakh passengers.

A crisis ignored

The lack of adequate deployment of security personnel across Delhi’s railway stations remains a pressing issue. While authorities have increased personnel at New Delhi Railway Station following the stampede, other stations remain understaffed. With mortuaries overflowing and countless bodies left unclaimed, the crisis is worsening.

 

Yet, beyond statistics, the human cost of this crisis remains largely invisible. With the absence of preventative measures, limited police intervention, and ongoing civic negligence, deaths on the tracks have become a tragically normalised reality. If urgent action is not taken, the death toll will only continue to rise, turning Delhi’s railway stations into graveyards of the unidentified.