New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday informed the Parliament that it has been decided to create permanent waiting areas outside 73 railway stations across the country, which periodically face heavy crowds as part of the action plan to handle the rush of passengers during the festive season.

These major stations facing rush situations will have a Station Director, empowered to take “on-the-spot decongesting decisions” like restricting sale of tickets as per capacity and availability of trains during the festive rush, the minister told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The crowd build-up will be controlled within the waiting area. Passengers will be allowed to go to the platforms only when their trains arrive at the platform. This will decongest the platforms, he said.

The pilot projects have started at New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Ghaziabad stations, he said.

The action plan is based on the experience gained from the use of these measures to handle the passenger rush at stations such as Surat, Udhna, Patna and New Delhi in 2024. Similar arrangements were made during the Mahakumbh at nine stations in the Prayagraj area.

Based on the experience at these stations, it has been decided to ensure complete access control at the 73 identified stations.

Passengers with confirmed reserve tickets will be given direct access to the platforms, while passengers without a ticket or with a waiting list ticket will wait in the outside waiting area. All unauthorised entry points will be sealed, the minister said.

He also said that two new designs of 12 metres wide (40 feet) and 6 metres wide (20 feet) standard FOB have been developed. These wide FOBs with ramps were very effective in crowd management during the Mahakumbh. These new standard wide FOBs will be installed in all the stations.

Besides, cameras helped crowd management in a big way during the Mahakumbh. CCTV cameras at Railway stations and adjoining areas will aid close monitoring and management of the crowd at railway stations, the minister said.

War rooms will also be developed at large stations, in which officers of all departments will work during crowd situations.

The latest digital communication equipment, like walkie-talkies, announcement systems, and calling systems, will be installed on all heavy crowd stations.

The minister further stated that all staff and service personnel will be given a new design ID card so that only authorised persons can enter the station. All staff members will also be given new design uniforms so that they can be easily identified during a crisis situation.

All major stations will have a senior officer as Station Director. All other departments will report to the Station Director, who will get financial empowerment so that he can take on-the-spot decisions for improving the station, the minister said.

Besides, coordination with other stakeholders such as GRP/State Police has been stepped up, and Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff are deployed at sensitive locations to regulate the crowd smoothly during the heavy rush period and render real-time assistance to passengers, the minister added.

–IANS

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