[9] Local Congress politician Navjot Kaur Sidhu, the wife of the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Amritsar East, was the guest of honour at the event.

[12] On 23 October, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Minister for Local Government, Tourism and Cultural Affairs in the Punjab State Government[20] and husband of Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who was the guest of honour at the festival, announced that he and his wife would adopt all the children who lost parents in the accident, covering their education and all other expenses, and that women who lost their husbands would also be extended all required financial help.

[21] Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ramnath Kovind[22] offered condolences to the families of the dead and hopes that the injured would recover quickly.

[5] Video footage of the incident seemed to show several mobile phones filming after the crash, causing the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to criticise the reaction of the crowd.

[23] The day after the crash, 20 October, some locals staged a sit-in protest on the railway tracks, demanding action from officials, the train driver, and "adequate compensation" for the victims.

[24] Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, on a visit to the United States at the time of the crash, announced his immediate return to India.

[27] A senior Indian Railways official described the incident as "a clear case of trespassing" and, when asked why the train did not stop or slow as it approached, explained that there was "so much smoke that the driver was unable to see anything and he was also negotiating a curve.