Mumbai: In view of the ongoing festive season rush at major railway stations, including Surat, Udhna, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, etc. 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.
According to Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, for the convenience of passengers and with a view to meet the travel demand, this year Western Railway is running 139 Festival Special Trains to various destinations, which is 100% more as compared to the trains run last year. With these trains, WR is carrying around 8 lakh additional passengers apart from the regular trains. Out of these, 59 trains originate from Gujarat, including 23 trains originating from Surat/ Udhna. Similarly, 31 enroute trains have halts at Surat/Udhna. The running of extra special trains is being monitored at divisional & headquarter levels by senior officers, which are also planned accordingly. 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.
Crowd Management measures at various stations over WR | FPJ
Maximum staff deployed for crowd control
It is pertinent to mention that in order to monitor & control crowd, maximum deployment of staff has been ensured at stations with heavy footfalls like Surat, Udhna, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, etc. RPF & GRP personnel have been deployed round the clock, 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. 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, additional force has been deployed by State Govt. for enhanced security arrangements near the station premises.
The access area to the station is regulated so that early entry to platform can be restricted. In order to restrict heavy footfalls at station, sale of Platform Tickets have been stopped. Medical Teams have also been deployed at the stations in case of emergencies. Announcements were done to manage the passengers in the queue. The Passengers are segregated to ensure ease of movement, and streamlined alighting of passengers. The passengers were lined up systematically and then guided to enter the coaches in order to avoid rush. The passengers inside the train compartment were informed to adjust & create space for passengers waiting outside can also be accommodated. The passengers who could not board their train are given information about subsequent special trains.
WR assures that the special trains will get maximum attention from the public
Thakur further informed that all efforts are taken to provide wide publicity of special trains & to ensure proper dissemination of the information to the public. Regular Tweets, Social Media posts, Newspaper publicity are being done to keep passengers informed about new trains. Additionally, the information was also disseminated at stations via standees, pamphlets, banners etc. Moreover, Ticket Checking, RPF & GRP staff were guiding passengers through the Public Announcement System. Further, 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 & Unions, Community Leaders, etc.
"Western Railway appeals all its valued passengers to avoid overcrowding at the stations and only the bonafide passengers to enter station premises as per the train timings" said an official of WR.
WR takes proactive steps to manage crowd:
139 Festival Special trains being run by WR to various destinations.
More than 100% increase as compared to the no. of trains run last year
Around 8 lakh additional passengers being carried by these Festival Special Trains apart from regular trains.
Increased deployment of RPF & GRP personnel for crowd management as well as to streamline the movement of passengers
Railway officials deployed round the clock to monitor the situation and for crisis management
