Surat: With Udhna station already starting to see the rush of migrant workers heading to their hometowns in North India ahead of festivals like Diwali and Chhath Puja, as well as the Bihar elections, railway and Surat City Police officials have unveiled a comprehensive crowd management plan at Udhna and Surat Railway stations to tackle overcrowding and prevent stampede-like situations. As part of this plan, drone cameras will monitor passenger movements at both locations.

A large number of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Odisha travel home every year for these festivities. According to Vineet Abhishek, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, several festival special trains will originate or terminate at Udhna, and temporarily discontinued halts at Surat will resume from October 10. Around 470 festive train trips from Surat and Udhna, and 574 passing train trips from the Mumbai division, will operate to destinations including Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

Holding areas at both stations have been expanded and equipped with fans, seating, toilets, drinking water, ticket counters, and announcement systems. Surat can hold 400 passengers on the east side and 700 on the west, while Udhna can accommodate 600 on the west and 1,000 on the east. Additional RPF and ticket-checking staff will be deployed, and two drones at each station will monitor crowd flow.

Surat City Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 2, Kanan Desai, said special measures include shifting North Eastern State trains to Platform 6 at Udhna, CCTV monitoring, designated waiting areas, and medical facilities. Police will maintain strict security both inside and outside the stations, and passengers have been urged to cooperate and maintain order. DeshGujarat