BENGALURU: The uproar on social media over visuals of passengers inside reserved compartments of trains suffering across the country, and the ground reality at key stations in Bengaluru, has prompted the Railways to form special teams to manage the overwhelming crowds in long-distance trains. The teams are in action at KSR Bengaluru, Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal, Yesvantpur and Yelahanka railway stations.
While the summer train rush has always existed, the crowd has compounded this year due to the overlap of general elections and migrants in Bengaluru travelling to cast their votes, and the onset of the wedding season in many parts of the country.
Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager Yogesh Mohan told TNIE, “We have constituted special teams comprising Commercial Division staff and Railway Protection Force cops to manage the extreme rush. Long-distance trains which run jampacked have been identified, and the key job of the teams is to ensure unreserved passengers in reserved coaches are sent to general coaches.”
Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Administration, Parikshit Mohanpuria said, “The team members are also accompanying the TTE during ticket checks, inside reserved compartments so that they can identify travellers without tickets. Trains heading towards Bihar and UP are generally overflowing. An unreserved coach can hold a maximum of 200 passengers but we have a much higher number purchasing open tickets. If we stop issuing general tickets, the public will create issues.”
“Since passengers have already purchased open tickets, many are keen to travel despite the train being jampacked. Due to a lack of space in general coaches, they enter the reserved compartments,” he explained.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager K Krishna Chaitanya said that focus is on two aspects - Train Management and Terminal Management. “The passengers boarding Hassan-Solapur Express, Udyan Express, Sanghamitra Superfast Express, Howrah Superfast Express and Karnataka Express are closely monitored.”