In view of the ongoing festive season rush at Surat & Udhna railway stations and to regulate the number of passengers at railway premises including platforms & FOBs, Western Railway has taken several precautionary measures and various elaborate arrangements have been made for proper implementation of crowd management at these stations.
Maximum deployment of staff
According to Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, in order to monitor & control the crowd, maximum deployment of staff has been ensured at Surat & Udhna stations. RPF & GRP personnel have been deployed, to regulate the crowd at the entry/exit points & at platforms. Additionally, RPF/GRP staff have been stationed at the gates of every coach (both reserved as well as unreserved) of all trains. Also, additional force has been deployed by state govt. for enhanced security arrangements near the station premises.
Holding area for waiting passengers
The access area to the station is regulated so that early entry to the platform can be restricted. For better management, a holding area has been set up at Surat and Udhna station premises for passengers to wait comfortably in case they come early. These areas are equipped with basic amenities such as drinking water, sanitation facilities, etc. Also, in order to restrict heavy footfall at the station, the sale of platform tickets has been stopped. Medical Teams have also been deployed at the stations in case of emergencies. To provide wide publicity of special trains, all efforts are taken to ensure proper dissemination of the information to the public. To reach the target audience and for wider & quicker outreach regarding the special trains being run, the messages are being sent to various social media platforms & groups of the local NGOs, Trade Associations and unions, Community Leaders, etc.
It is further informed that the running of extra special trains are being monitored at divisional & headquarters levels by senior officers. This festive season, for the convenience of passengers and with a view to meet the travel demand, Western Railway is running 63 pairs of Festival Special trains to various destinations. Out of these, 42 pairs of trains are from Gujarat, including 12 pairs of trains originating from Surat/ Udhna, i.e. 4 pairs from Surat and 8 pairs from Udhna. Similarly, 16 pairs of enroute trains have halts at Surat/Udhna. In addition to this, three single trip trains are being run from Udhna, Vadodara & Ahmedabad for Katihar to clear the heavy rush of passengers. Likewise, the waiting list of trains are monitored daily on real time basis and additional coaches are augmented in the existing trains from time to time to clear the extra rush. Similarly, Special trains will also be planned accordingly.
