CR ready for summer surge

MUMBAI: In light of last year’s stampede at the Bandra Terminus, and the anticipated surge of passengers at the start of the holiday season, the Central Railway is putting in place several crowd-control measures at two major railway terminuses.

The introduction of holding areas for passengers, a first for the railway, is the most significant step taken in the aftermath of the October 2024 stampede. The tragedy occurred when passengers suddenly surged forward but were unable to board the train as it pulled into the station.

Other measures to regulate passenger movement include the opening of more ticket windows, creating ‘mobile ticket counters’ at holding areas, and restricting the number of unreserved tickets being sold at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) at Fort, and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Kurla.

These and other steps will be implemented starting this week as the railway expects crowds to escalate from this weekend. To accommodate the flood of passengers, the railway will be operating 1,204 summer special trains, which includes 290 unreserved and 42 air-conditioned trains.

Special crowd-control measures at LTT include a large holding area that can accommodate 3,000 passengers arriving to board unreserved coaches. “We have built a large tent at the main entrance of the station, near the autorickshaw and taxi stand, where passengers are dropped off. We will provide facilities such as standing fans and drinking water,” said a railway official.

In addition, at least six new ticket windows will be opened at LTT, on the Tilak Nagar suburban railway station side, which is heavily patronised by passengers. It will be ready in a day or two, added the official.

At CSMT, Mumbai’s largest railway terminus, the challenges are greater due to space constraints at the heritage property, which is undergoing major redevelopment. “For a holding area, we have identified the space in front of platforms 16-18, which can accommodate around 600 passengers,” said a railway officer.

Other areas within CSMT are being identified for additional holding areas. “Earlier, there was ample open space available next to platform 18, adjacent to P D’Mello Road, but due to the ongoing CSMT redevelopment, this has been blocked,” said the railway official.

“Another location under consideration is the space separating the bank of suburban and long-distance platforms but we are yet to finalise this,” said the official.

In an ingenious strategy, the railway will create ‘mobile ticket counters’ at the holding areas. This ticketing facility will issue unreserved rail tickets for General Coaches, thus easing overcrowding at the conventional ticket windows. Also, unreserved tickets will be sold based on the estimated capacity of the General Coaches for each train.

According to a railway official, the movement of unreserved passengers boarding long-distance trains will be closely monitored. “We will create a sort of access-control movement, where a limited number of passengers holding unreserved tickets will be allowed to move forward. One queue will lead these passengers towards the front of the train, where the General Coaches are attached, while the second row will lead to the rear end of the train. Moreover, passengers will be dispatched in batches, while the rest will be stationed in the holding areas,” added the official.

Passengers will also be prohibited from carrying large luggage items such as drums and steel caskets whose dimensions exceed 100 × 100 × 70 cm, as this creates barriers to boarding.

BOX: Facilities At Holding Areas

- ‘Mobile ticket counters’ near holding areas

- Deployment of additional railway staff

- Frequent public announcements

- Clear signage

- Standing fans and drinking water

- Medical teams on standby