Huge rush at Udhna railway station as migrant workers head home for Holi

Surat: With the Holi festival around the corner, several thousand migrant laborers and workers from North India, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, are preparing to visit their hometowns. This has led to a huge surge of travelers at Udhna railway station in the city.

On Sunday morning, a massive crowd of passengers thronged Udhna railway station. Notably, since 4 a.m., ticket sales for trains heading to North India from Udhna station were halted, just as people were preparing to travel home.

Since Saturday night, a large number of passengers had gathered at Udhna railway station to board trains to North Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Due to the sudden rush, the system was disrupted. However, the railway administration made timely arrangements, organizing passengers into queues. Only those with confirmed tickets were initially allowed to enter the station, followed by others in a phased manner.

After the Delhi incident, the administration took precautions to prevent overcrowding on the platform and stopped issuing general tickets from 4 a.m. As a result, around 1,500 passengers had to return home without boarding, while more than 6,000 were able to depart.

It is noteworthy that more than 100 trains have been diverted to Udhna railway station and are departing from there due to the ongoing redevelopment work at Surat railway station.

Meanwhile, Vineet Abhishek, CPRO of Western Railway’s Mumbai Division, said, “All arrangements have been made on our end for the festivals. We have learned from the Delhi incident, so we made all the preparations in advance. From 4 a.m. today, we stopped issuing tickets for trains heading towards Uttar Bharat.”

Anticipating the rush of passengers, the railway administration deployed around 100 GRP and RPF personnel, along with 20 TCs, inspectors, station masters, and other officers. These strict measures were taken to prevent a stampede on the platform or inside the railway station.

This is not the first time such disorder has been witnessed at Udhna railway station. Last year, passengers faced similar difficulties during Holi, Deepavali, and Chhath Puja. DeshGujarat