NEW DELHI: In anticipation of the festive rush at Delhi stations in the days leading up to Chhath Puja, the Northern Railway has stepped up crowd monitoring and made elaborate arrangements at major railway stations across the Delhi area to ensure smooth passenger movement.
As part of its preparations, the Railways has operationalised a permanent holding area at the Anand Vihar terminal this year following the commissioning of a similar facility at the New Delhi Railway Station last year. Additionally, a temporary tented holding area has been set up at Anand Vihar to accommodate the additional rush of passengers.
The holding areas are equipped with unreserved ticketing system (UTS) counters, toilets, automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs), catering stalls, ‘May I Help You’ booths and public announcement systems. Adequate railways staff have been deployed to guide passengers and assist them with their travel-related queries. Further, adding to the mood, music dedicated to the Chhath festival is being played at major railway stations across the Delhi area.
As many as 23 special trains were scheduled to originate from major stations in the Delhi area on Sunday. Of these, eight were scheduled from the Anand Vihar terminal, six from the New Delhi Railway Station, three each from Hazrat Nizamuddin and Shakurbasti, two from the Delhi Junction and one from Rohtak. Authorities said additional unscheduled trains would also be planned.
Crowd management
To oversee crowd management and ensure passenger convenience, the Divisional Railway Manager, Additional Divisional Railway Managers and senior officials from the division and headquarters are monitoring the situation at major stations