New

Delhi, 19 March (HS): Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw while said in

the replying to the question in Loksabha said that each railway station has

unique operational challenges due to varying passenger movement patterns during

the festivals. For the security arrangements and to streamline passenger flow,

station specific plans are made involving all the stakeholders that include

Government Railway Police (GRP), Local Police and Local Civil Administration

and accordingly action is taken to manage the influx of passengers.

To

handle the rush of passengers during Maha Kumbh 2025 at Prayagraj, new infrastructure

was created building seven additional platforms, bringing the total to 48

platforms across 9 stations in the Prayagraj area. The approach roads to these

stations have also been widened to ensure smooth movement of pilgrims. In

total, 17 new permanent Yatri Ashryas were constructed, increasing the holding

capacity of these shelters from 21,000 to over 1,10,000. Additionally, 21 new

Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and Road Under Bridges (RUBs) have been built,

eliminating all level crossings in the region.

A

well-coordinated train operation plan was deployed to ensure smooth

transportation during the Kumbh. Each station was having its own control room,

with a central master control room at Prayagraj Junction. Standard Operating

Procedures (SOPs) were developed for train operations and crowd management at

stations.

To

facilitate smooth rush of passengers flow, extensive measures have been put in

place, including single entry and exit points at stations on major Snan days

and unidirectional movement on platforms, foot over bridges (FOBs), and ramps.

Security

arrangements for Mahakumbh-2025 were comprehensive, with an emphasis on

surveillance and real-time monitoring. A total of about 1200 CCTV cameras,

including 116 Face Recognition System (FRS) cameras and Drone cameras were also

deployed for surveillance of tracks and crowd management at approach roads to

stations.

Additional

deployment of 15,000 personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF),

Government Railway Police (GRP) and para-military forces were done to ensure

security.

Also,

additional deployment were made at other sensitive railway stations where high

rush of passengers were expected i.e. Varanasi, Ayodhya, Pandit Deen Dayal

Upadhyaya, Danapur and New Delhi etc.

New

Delhi Railway Station has adequate infrastructure. It has 16 nos. of platforms,

three foot over bridges (FOBs), access from both Paharganj and Ajmeri gate

side, large open spaces in front of the station etc. Large rush of passengers

during festivals and events like Kumbh, Chatth, Holi etc. are being handled

regularly on New Delhi Railway Station.

Further,

redevelopment of New Delhi Railway Station has been sanctioned under Amrit

Bharat Station Scheme.

Amrit

Bharat Station Scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis

with a long-term approach. This scheme involves preparation of Master Plans and

their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like

improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets,

lift/escalators as necessary, cleanliness, free Wi- Fi, kiosks for local

products through schemes like One Station One Product, better passenger

information systems, executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings,

landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each such station.

The

scheme also envisages improvement of building integrating the station with both

sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans,

sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballast less

tracks etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city

centres at the station in the long term.

The

plan for redevelopment of New Delhi Railway station, envisages larger new

station buildings at both sides, spacious Air Concourse with modern amenities

for passenger, Multi Modal Transport Hub connecting different mode of

transportation and providing parking and other facilities. The redeveloped

station envisages a network of surface and elevated roads to provide access at

two levels and to decongest surrounding areas of New Delhi railway station.

Adequate security measures like CCTV cameras, access control, movement

regulation and waiting space etc are also envisaged.

The

details of allocation of funds for development and maintenance of stations are

maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not footfall-wise or Work- wise or

Station-wise. Passenger amenities are generally funded under Plan Head-53

‘Customer Amenities’. An allocation of Rs. 12,994 Crores (Revised Estimate) has

been made for the financial year 2024-25 under Plan Head-53. New Delhi railway

station in Delhi falls under Northern Railway Zone and the fund allocation to

Northern Railway for development and maintenance of stations under Plan Head-53

‘Customer Amenities' for the year (RE 2024-25) is ₹ 1531.24 Cr.

To

handle heavy rush of passengers at stations, following decisions have been

taken by railways -

1. Permanent holding areas at 60 stations:

a. During the festival season of 2024,

holding areas were created outside

stations.

These waiting areas were able to hold large crowds at Surat Udhna, Patna and

New Delhi. Passengers were allowed only when the train came to the platform.

b. Similar arrangements were made during Mahakumbh

at nine stations of Prayag area.

c. Based on the experience of these

stations, it has been decided to create permanent waiting areas outside

stations at 60 stations across the country which periodically face heavy

crowds.

d. Pilot projects have started at New

Delhi, Anand Vihar, Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Ghaziabad stations.

e. With this concept, the sudden crowd

will be contained within the waiting area. Passengers will be allowed to go to

platforms only when the trains arrive at the platform. This will decongest the

stations.

2. Access control:

a. Complete access control will be

initiated at the 60 stations.

b. Passengers with confirmed reserve

tickets will be given direct access to the platforms.

c. Passengers without a ticket or with a

waiting list ticket will wait in the outside waiting area.

d. All unauthorised entry points will be

sealed.

3. Wider foot-over-bridges (FOB):

a. Two new designs of 12 metre wide (40

feet) and 6 metre wide (20 feet) standard FOB have been developed. These wide

FOBs with ramps were very effective in crowd management during Mahakumbh. These

new standard wide FOBs will be installed in all the stations.

4. Cameras:

a. Cameras helped crowd management in a

big way during Mahakumbh. A large number of cameras will be installed in all

stations and adjoining areas for close monitoring.

5. War rooms:

a. War rooms at large stations will be

developed. Officers of all departments will work in the war room during crowd

situations.

6. New generation communication equipment:

a. Latest design digital communication

equipment like walkie-talkies, announcement systems, calling systems will be

installed on all heavy crowd stations.

7. New design ID card:

a. All staff and service persons will be

given a new design ID card so that only authorised persons can enter the

station.

8. New design uniform for staff:

a. All staff members will be given new

design uniforms so that they can be easily identified during a crisis

situation.

9. Upgradation of station director post:

a. All major stations will have a senior

officer as station director. All other departments will report to the station

director.

b. Station director will get financial

empowerment so that he can take on-

the-spot

decisions for improving the station.

10. Sale of tickets as per capacity:

a. Station Director will be empowered to

control the sale of tickets as per capacity of the station and the available

trains.

CCTV

cameras are installed at New Delhi railway station, which is being monitored

round the clock. A high-level inquiry committee has been constituted for

comprehensive investigation into the incident at New Delhi railway station.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi