Lok Sabha Question No. 5172 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-02
Subject: Railway Station Entry
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Tejasvi Surya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5172 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2025

## RAILWAY STATION ENTRY

## 5172.  SHRI TEJASVI SURYA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has adopted a policy of only allowing passengers with  a  confirmed  railway  ticket  to  enter  the  60  busiest  stations  in  the country, if so, the details of this policy and the rationale behind it;
- (b)
- the list of stations to be covered under the policy, State-wise;
- (c) whether it is conceivable that more stations will be included thereunder, if so,  the  timeline  of  such  expansion  along  with  the  details  of  the  stations that are likely to be included;
- (d) the  manner  in  which  the  Railways  proposes  to  restrict  the  movement  of non-passengers and attenders entering the railway station; and
- (e) the  details  of  any  technology  or  manpower  used  along  with  the  financial outlay for such a project?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e):  With a view to handle heavy rush of passengers at stations during festival/Mela periods, limited Access Control System has been experimented by  the  Railways  where  during  such  periods,  holding  areas  were  created outside stations and passengers were allowed only when the train came to the platform.

Further,  to  handle  heavy  rush  of  passengers  at  stations,  following decisions have been taken by railways -

## 1. Permanent holding areas at 60 stations:

- i. During the festival season of 2024, holding areas were created outside stations. These waiting areas were able to hold large crowds at Surat, Udhna, Patna and New Delhi. Passengers were allowed only when the train came to the platform.
- ii. Similar arrangements were made during Mahakumbh at nine stations of Prayag area.
- iii. Based on the experience of these stations, it has been decided to create permanent  waiting  areas  outside  stations  at  60  stations  across  the country, which periodically face heavy crowds.
- iv. Pilot projects have started at New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Ghaziabad stations.
- v. With this concept, the sudden crowd will be contained within the waiting area. Passengers will be allowed to go to platforms only when the trains arrive at the platform. This will decongest the stations.
2. Access control:
- i. Complete access control will be initiated at the 60 stations.
- ii. Passengers with confirmed reserve tickets will be given direct access to the platforms.
- iii. Passengers without a ticket or with a waiting list ticket will wait in the outside waiting area.
- iv. All unauthorised entry points will be sealed.
3. Wider foot-over-bridges (FOB):
- i. Two new designs of 12 metre wide (40 feet) and 6 metre wide (20 feet) standard FOB have been developed. These wide FOBs with ramps were very  effective  in  crowd  management  during  Mahakumbh.  These  new standard wide FOBs will be installed in all the stations.
4. Cameras:
- i. Cameras helped crowd management in a big way during Mahakumbh. A large  number of  cameras will be installed in all stations and  adjoining areas for close monitoring.
5. War rooms:
- i. War rooms at large stations will be developed. Officers of all departments will work in the war room during crowd situations.
6. New generation communication equipment:
- i. Latest  design digital  communication  equipment  like  walkie-talkies, announcement systems,  calling  systems  will  be  installed  on  all  heavy crowd stations.
7. New design ID card:
- i. All staff and service persons will be given a new design ID card so that only authorised persons can enter the station.
8. New design uniform for staff:
- i. All staff members will be given new design uniforms so that they can be easily identified during a crisis situation.
9. Upgradation of Station Director post:
- i. All major stations will have a senior officer as Station Director. All other departments will report to the Station Director.
- ii. Station Director will get financial empowerment so that he can take onthe-spot decisions for improving the station.
10. Sale of tickets as per capacity:
- i. Station Director will be empowered to control the sale of tickets as per capacity of the station and the available trains.

In  addition,  for  the  security  arrangements  and  to  streamline  passenger flow,  station  specific  plans  are  made  involving  all  the  stakeholders  that include  Government  Railway  Police  (GRP),  Local  Police  and  Local  Civil Administration  and  accordingly  action  is  taken  to  manage  the  influx  of passengers. Queue System is maintained for hassle free boarding of important

trains at originating stations. GRP  &  RPF  staffs  are  deployed  at  foot-over  bridges  to  regulate  crowd smoothly  in  order  to  avoid  stampede  like  situation  during  the  heavy  rush period  and  render  real  time  assistance  to  passengers.  Intelligence  units (CIB/SIB) and plain cloth staff are deployed for collection of information about rush and accordingly arrangements were made associating GRP/Police. During peak  rush periods, when  heavy  movement  of  passengers  is anticipated,  Zonal  Railways  are  authorized  to  restrict  entry  to  stations  by stopping issuing of platform tickets except for persons coming to the station just  to  assist  the  aged,  illiterate  and  female  passengers  who  are  not    in  a position to fend for themselves at Railway stations. Unauthorised entry of any person into railway premises is an offence and the  persons  entering  into  railway  premises  unauthorisedly  are  prosecuted under Section 147 of the Railways Act, 1989. Taking  such  measures  to  handle  heavy  rush  of  passengers  at  stations during  festival/Mela  periods  is  a  continuous  and  ongoing  exercise  in  Indian Railways.

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