In festive spirit: Railways boosts crowd control

The Indian Railways is adopting enhanced crowd control measures through large holding areas outside stations along with running additional special trains on crowded routes amid heavy passenger demand during the festival period.

According to railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, more than 10 million passengers have travelled via Indian Railways from the national capital in special trains during this festive season.

"Over 4.5 lakh passengers are going from the national capital everyday by Indian railways," he told ET while reviewing passenger amenities and crowd management at the New Delhi railway station.

The national transporter is operating 12,000 special train services for the Chhath and Diwali festive season in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Another 150 completely unreserved trains are kept standby to address last-moment rush.

These new trains are expected to facilitate transport of around 20-30 million passengers. The Indian Railways operated 7,724 special trains last fiscal year to enable higher passenger movement, which typically occurs between October 15 and November 15.

An official statement said the minister inspected the control room that monitors the entire New Delhi station. He also interacted with passengers and took feedback from sleeper-class passengers on the Amrit Bharat Express train. The Railways is ensuring access control at 60 high-footfall stations.