With the summer vacation rush leading to heavy passenger turnout at Mumbai’s railway terminals, Western Railway has implemented special measures for crowd management. A checklist comprising 20 mandatory guidelines has been prepared for on-duty officials to ensure smooth operations during the peak travel period. This checklist has been developed by Western Railway in accordance with Railway Board directives.
According to a Western Railway official, the checklist takes into account all critical aspects of crowd control. One of the key measures includes hourly monitoring of ticket bookings for specific destinations. If a surge in bookings is observed, the concerned division will be informed, and based on the data, a decision will be made to either add extra coaches to the train or run special trains on that route.
Western Railway has also taken additional steps to ease passenger boarding. Holding areas have been set up at railway terminals and station premises where passengers will be halted initially. After ticket verification, they will be allowed to enter the station premises in a queue.
Vineet Abhishek, CPRO, Western Railway
Key Crowd Management Measures:
- No last-minute changes in train platforms; regular updates to be provided to passengers.
- Avoid crowding on footbridges or landings.
- Do not bring two trains simultaneously on island platforms.
- Monitor stations through CCTV surveillance.
- Coordinate and direct passengers to holding areas efficiently.
- Ensure train doors and windows are locked while bringing rakes onto platforms.
- Assist passengers in using ATVM (Automatic Ticket Vending Machines).
- Ensure proper deployment of security personnel and ticket checking staff.
