Indian Railways: To manage the festive rush and ensure the safety of passengers, Indian Railways has taken a significant step. Keeping in mind the immense crowd during Chhath Puja, the Ministry of Railways has now decided to strictly monitor the booking of unreserved tickets on an hourly basis. Learning from a recent incident at the New Delhi station, the Railway Board has issued directives to implement this new system to prevent any situation from getting out of control.
Railway Board Seeks Hourly Reports
Chhath Puja is one of the biggest festivals, primarily for the people of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. A large number of people travel back to their hometowns during this time, leading to a massive rush on trains. To handle this immense passenger load, the Railways has already arranged for special trains. A significant portion of the thousands of special trains announced for the festive season is running towards Bihar.
In this context, the Railway Board has made an unprecedented decision for passenger safety and crowd management. From now on, detailed hourly reports of unreserved ticket sales from all major stations across the country must be sent directly to the Railway Board. Based on this data, the railway authorities will take necessary actions as required.
The main objectives are:
- Crowd Forecasting: By analysing the hourly ticket sales data, it will be possible to get an advance idea of the potential crowd at a specific station or on a particular route.
- Immediate Action: If there is an unexpected surge in crowds at any station, quick decisions can be made, such as running additional trains or deploying extra staff to manage the crowd on platforms.
- Ensuring Safety: Learning from the past, the Railways aims to estimate passenger pressure by monitoring ticket numbers to avoid any untoward incidents.
Why This Strict Monitoring?
According to railway sources, a recent unfortunate incident occurred at the New Delhi station due to the festive rush. Taking lessons from that event, the Railway Board has become more cautious. Their goal is to ensure that the journey of people returning home to celebrate the festival is completely safe and smooth. Merely running special trains is not enough; it is equally important to properly manage the passenger load on those trains and at the stations. This hourly monitoring system is considered a crucial step towards achieving that goal. This initiative by the Railways to make the Chhath Puja journey safe is undoubtedly commendable.
