NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited New Delhi Railway Station on Tuesday to review and strengthen arrangements for passengers traveling home for festivals like Chhath in Bihar and other states.
Following his visit, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on X said that he, along with officials, studied historical traffic patterns, analysed passenger surge data, and created mechanisms for coordination. "We have created holding areas at more than 70 stations. We have increased ticketing facilities at more than 100 stations," he said, adding that the continuous monitoring of the movement of special trains at division, zone and board control rooms is being carried out.
"Our control room at division, zone and board are operational 24×7, even on Diwali Day. All major stations have mini control rooms. Thousands of CCTV cameras have been installed," the minister claimed in a post on X.
Furthermore, the minister stated that the railways have made special arrangements for cleaning platforms during periods of heavy rush.
"The result is that till now, over 1 crore passengers reached home safely this festival season. We will continue to make our sincere efforts," the minister said. "12 Lakh railway employees are working day and night to ensure that passengers reach home safely and on time," Ashwini Vaishnaw asserted.
Meanwhile, a railway official source stated that in the last 20 days, 4,211 special trains have catered to over 1 crore passengers, and 7,800 more trains are to be operated to clear the festival rush.
He also stated that a daily average of 4.25 lakh passengers are being facilitated from the Delhi area alone.