WR draws up guidelines for crowd control at stations

MUMBAI: Before Holi, Western Railway (WR) drew up a summary of over 10 pages on the planning and execution of measures to be taken for preventing crowding and untoward incidents at railway stations. Subsequently, on March 17, union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke in the Rajya Sabha about Indian Railways’ steps for crowd control.

The guidelines broadly include creating additional infrastructure, creating holding areas, stopping the sale of platform tickets and having entry/exit control points among others. Sources said the guidelines were formulated after the recent stampede at Delhi, and also on account of the heavy crowding at Bandra Terminus, Surat and Udhna during festivals and holidays.

Nine different aspects that need to be addressed at the planning stage have been identified so that railway stations and terminuses are equipped to handle emergency situations in the event of crowding. These include deploying rail staff and the two railway police forces, the RPF and GRP, at ticket counters, entry/exit gates, platforms, waiting rooms and FOBs at all times to monitor and manage crowds. The guidelines also mandate clear signage and public address systems to direct the crowd and the creation of holding areas to accommodate 3,000 passengers at a time.

“There will be holding areas with seating arrangements, lights, fans, drinking water and an announcement system,” explained a WR official. “Ticket counters and automatic ticket-vending machines (ATVMs) can also be placed here. Passengers will be kept in these holding areas depending on train timings and crowd accumulation.” The official said that ticket sales for destinations would be monitored on an hourly basis, and if the numbers for a particular destination went over the average, higher-ups would be informed so that measures could be taken for a potentially larger crowd. “Changing platforms for arriving trains will also be avoided,” he said.

Other guidelines include keeping more ticket windows open as crowds increase, and ensuring that all ATVMs are in working condition. Another measure is stopping the sale of platform tickets during festivals and holidays, as happened during the Holi festival from March 12 to 16, when platform tickets were not sold at Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, Vapi, Valsad, Udhna and Surat in order to control crowds.

WR authorities have also proposed that passengers queue up under the supervision of security personnel when an empty train backs into the station. This guideline has been included after nine passengers were injured in a stampede at Bandra Terminus last October while trying to board a reversing train whose doors and windows were locked. Another rail official said that the guidelines were directions for better planning and execution whenever large crowds were expected at railway stations.