AMN / WEB DESK
Indian Railways is running 7 thousand 296 special trains to cater for the rush of passengers during the festive season of Deepawali and Chhath Puja. This year, the Railways is operating around 2 thousand 800 more trains in comparison to 4 thousand 500 operated last year for the ease of passengers. Recently, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the number of special trains increased to over seven thousand this year, compared to four thousand five hundred trains operated last year. He said, around two lakh extra passengers can travel by these special trains on a daily basis.
To effectively deal with the high passenger volumes during the festive season, the Railway has taken several steps for better crowd management and providing seamless services to the passengers at major Railways Stations of Delhi. Our correspondent reports that a designated holding area has been set up at the stations, equipped with additional ticket counters. Automatic Ticket Vending Machines, Enquiry Counters, catering services, drinking water, and mobile toilets have also been set up to cater for the requirements of the passengers.
Divisional Railway Manager, Sukhwinder Singh said that in view of the festival of Diwali and Chhathh Puja, in addition to running special trains, the number of unreserved coaches in trains has also been increased for the passengers. He also informed us that this time additional 123 regular trains are being operated as compared to last year. He also informed that the sale of platform tickets at major Railway Stations including New Delhi, Old Delhi and Anand Vihar Stations has been banned til the 7th of November.
Talking about the arrangements made at the Railways Stations, Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay said, the Railway has made several arrangements this time for efficient crowd management at major Railway Stations of Delhi. He said that screens have been installed at the stations to provide real-time train running information. He said different entry points have been made for reserved and unreserved passengers to avoid untoward incidents. He said the number of security staff has increased by 30 percent this time.