Railways Gears Up To Ensure Passenger Safety During Festive Season

New Delhi: The Railway Protection Force and Railway Police, in a bid to tackle incidents of snatching, pickpocketing, unauthorized entry into restricted areas, congestion at foot over bridges, waiting halls and circulating zones, will step up patrolling, frisking and anti-sabotage checks during the festive season to ensure safety of passengers.

A Sridhar, Chief Public Relations Officer, South Central Railway, said, the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police will step up patrolling, frisking and anti-sabotage checks, while local police will assist in crowd dispersal and law and order duties.

“In addition, police will regulate vehicle movement, enforce no-parking rules, and earmark dedicated lanes for autos, cabs and buses to decongest station approaches. The risk of stampede-like situations, witnessed at major stations in the past, will also be minimised,” he added.

“The railways has made specific plans to deal with unique operational challenges due to varying passenger movement patterns during festivals. All stakeholders including GRP, local police and civil administration will act accordingly to manage the influx of passengers,” the Ministry of Railways had recently said.

The government has taken several decision to handle heavy rush of passengers at stations such as creation of permanent holding areas at 73 identified stations, access control, wider foot-over-bridges, CCTV cameras, war room at large stations, new generation communication equipment, new ID cards, and new uniform for staff, as per Rajya Sabha data.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, a few days ago, had directed officials to complete work on the holding area being built at New Delhi railway station at the earliest. The holding areas are being built for better crowd management during festivals.

Ticketing area

It will accommodate heavy passengers for smooth passenger movement.

Post Ticketing Area

It can accommodate extra passengers providing sufficient space for queuing, security checks, luggage scanning.

Other Facilities:

Facilities shall be available to passengers in the dedicated holding area such as ticket counters, toilet blocks, public address system, electronic display board for information, AI based surveillance camera, luggage scanner, signage for passengers guidance, and integrated with metro connectivity.

Holding areas

Based on the experience of the stations, it has been decided to create permanent waiting areas outside stations at 73 stations across the country, which periodically face heavy crowds. Crowd build up will be controlled within the waiting area. Passengers will be allowed to go to platforms only when trains arrive.

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