The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) is preparing to deploy approximately 4,500 buses from its depots across the state to facilitate the seamless movement of devotees during the Simhastha Kumbh Mela scheduled for 2027 in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar.
Experience in Large-Scale Bus Operations
The state transport utility brings over six decades of experience in pooling buses for major events, such as the Ashadhi Ekadashi pilgrimage in Pandharpur and the Ganesh Festival, when it transports passengers from Mumbai and Thane to Konkan regions. This expertise will be instrumental in managing the Kumbh Mela operations in Nashik district.
Parking and Shuttle Strategy
According to a senior MSRTC official, the Nashik Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority (NTKMA) has devised a plan involving outer and inner parking areas. Private vehicles will be stopped at these lots, and pilgrims will be transported via MSRTC buses on designated routes.
Around 3,000 buses will be deployed to shuttle pilgrims from outer parking areas to the pilgrimage zones in Nashik. Buses will also be permitted up to inner parking centers, beyond which devotees will proceed on foot, as those zones will be exclusively pedestrian.
An additional 1,500 buses will ferry passengers from five different railway stations. The NTKMA has designed an integrated shuttle network to handle over 33 lakh passengers daily while minimizing private vehicle movement in core pilgrimage areas.
Route and Monitoring Systems
There are 46 outer parking locations around Nashik and Trimbakeshwar. A dedicated fleet of buses will connect these two key destinations. The entire bus movement system will be monitored via GPS tracking and integrated with the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC). Real-time monitoring will help regulate bus frequency, reduce waiting times, and manage crowd pressure on high-demand routes, the authorities confirmed.
