Surat: An estimated 14,000 passengers departed for their native places on Sunday via six regular and special trains operating from Udhna to destinations in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Additionally, around 1,600 passengers travelled on a train from Udhna to Bahadurpur in Odisha.

To manage the heavy rush, railway authorities implemented crowd-control measures by assembling passengers at designated points and escorting them to platforms in an orderly queue as trains arrived. This ensured smooth boarding and prevented chaos. In view of the intense heat, officials also distributed around 3,000 bottles of drinking water to passengers.

Train-wise passenger details from Udhna:

• 09041 Udhna–Ballia (11:30 pm): 3,000 passengers
• 09045 Udhna–Jhanjharpur (1:30 am): 2,400 passengers
• 09047 Udhna–Samastipur (5:00 am): 1,600 passengers
• 19021 Udhna–Brahmapur (7:10 am): 1,600 passengers
• 22564 Udhna–Jaynagar Antyodaya (8:35 am): 3,600 passengers
• 19045 Udhna–Taptiganga (10:20 am): 2,200 passengers
• 09031 Udhna–Hasanpur (11:25 am): 1,200 passengers

Udhna–Jaynagar unreserved special cancelled

The railways had been considering running an additional unreserved special train on the Udhna–Jaynagar route over the past two Sundays to accommodate increased passenger traffic. However, the train was cancelled for the second consecutive week due to low occupancy.

Initially scheduled to operate in the afternoon, the service was later proposed to be shifted to the evening. However, with inadequate passenger numbers even at night, the plan was dropped altogether. Following the cancellation of the outbound service, the corresponding incoming special train from Jaynagar, scheduled for May 5, has also been cancelled.

The trend indicates that the outflow of passengers heading home has begun to decline. Despite this, the railways will continue strict crowd management measures to prevent any untoward incidents, including stampedes. DeshGujarat