The Mumbai division of Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) have taken a few steps as a part its crowd management initiative to cater to the Holi 2025 rush. This development comes as major stations usually experience crowded conditions, particularly during holidays and festivals.
It was followed by a high-level meeting on Friday, March 7, headed by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on crowd-control at stations, a number of key decisions were taken, including the creation of permanent waiting areas outside stations at 60 stations across the country that periodically face heavy crowds.
However, exemptions have been granted for senior citizens, patients, and young children, ensuring they are accompanied by caretakers with valid platform tickets.
2. To prevent any stampede-like incidents, CR has strengthened security arrangements at major stations. Measures include continuous monitoring through CCTV cameras, ensuring that passengers do not wait for long, an official said.
3. Apart from not allowing waitlisted passengers, it is also being ensured that general class passengers are only allowed inside if their train is within two hours of departure; else they are made to wait in the holding area.
4. A crowd-control war room has also been set-up to monitor the movement of passengers.
5. Mumbai’s WR division has also formed a war room and detailed guidelines on how to go about this, fixing responsibilities on departments with field staff from the commercial department, RPF, operations, electrical power, signalling and telecom, engineering and medical at the stations.
6. There is additional staff to be deployed at critical points, such as ticket counters, entry/exit gates, platforms, waiting rooms, and foot over bridges (FOBs) in all the shifts with revised duty rosters, increased patrolling, and clear signage, said an official.
7. Additional holding areas will be created. They will have sitting arrangements, light, a fan, an announcement system, and drinking water facilities. Ticket windows must be near to the holding area; if space is not available, any temporary options like porta cabins or ATVMs must be explored.
8. The medical department has been kept on alert with emergency response teams on standby with sufficient numbers of wheelchairs and stretchers.
9. Train-specific passengers will be allowed inside the station with proper queuing and flow regulated by ticket-checking staff at every entry point.
10. Ticket sales are also being monitored on an hourly basis. If ticket sales are higher than usual, booking clerks will raise an alarm to higher authorities.
Also Read: Central Railway to Run Additional 38 Holi Special Trains From Mumbai, Pune
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