Mumbai: Western Railway today in a note informed that due to festival rush it is operating 130 festival special trains which is double compared to previous year. Out of them 59 trains are from Gujarat, including 23 from Surat/Udhna.

According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, for the convenience of passengers and with a view to meet the travel demand, this year Western Railway is running 139 Festival Special Trains to various destinations, which is 100% more as compared to the trains run last year. With these trains, WR is carrying around 8 lakh additional passengers apart from the regular trains. Out of these, 59 trains originate from Gujarat, including 23 trains originating from Surat/ Udhna. Similarly, 31 enroute trains have halts at Surat/Udhna. The running of extra special trains is being monitored at divisional & headquarter levels by senior officers, which are also planned accordingly. Likewise, the waiting list of trains are monitored daily on real time basis and additional coaches are augmented in the existing trains from time to time to clear the extra rush.

Railway official further informed that in order to monitor & control crowd, maximum deployment of staff has been ensured at stations with heavy footfalls like Surat, Udhna, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, etc. RPF & GRP personnel have been deployed round the clock, to regulate the crowd at the entry/exit points & at platforms. Additionally, RPF/GRP staff have been stationed at the gates of every coach (both reserved as well as unreserved) of all trains. For better management, a holding area has been set up at Surat and Udhna station premises for passengers to wait comfortably in case they come early. These areas are equipped with basic amenities such as drinking water, sanitation facilities, etc. Also, additional force has been deployed by State Govt. for enhanced security arrangements near the station premises. The access area to station is regulated so that early entry to platform can be restricted. In order to restrict heavy footfalls at station, sale of Platform Tickets have been stopped. Medical Teams have also been deployed at the stations in case of emergencies. Announcements were done to manage the passengers in the queue. The Passengers are segregated to ensure ease of movement, streamlined alighting of passengers. The passengers were lined up systematically and then guided to enter the coaches in order to avoid rush. The passengers inside the train compartment were informed to adjust & create space for passengers waiting outside can also be accommodated. The passengers who could not board their train are given information about subsequent special trains.

Railway official further added that all efforts are taken to provide wide publicity of special trains & to ensure proper dissemination of the information to the public. Regular Tweets, Social Media posts, Newspaper publicity are being done to keep passengers informed about new trains. Additionally, the information was also disseminated at stations via standees, pamphlets, banners etc. Moreover, Ticket Checking, RPF & GRP staff were guiding passengers through the Public Announcement System. Further, to reach the target audience and for wider & quicker outreach regarding the special trains being run, the messages are being sent to various social media platforms & groups of the local NGOs, Trade Associations & Unions, Community Leaders, etc.