In view of the huge rush of passengers at stations to go to different cities of the country after Chhath Mahaparva, several steps have been taken by East Central Railway including crowd management. In this sequence, many special trains are being operated for major cities of the country. In such a situation, in view of the extra rush of passengers, railway security forces are keeping constant vigil at the stations so that there is no lapse in passenger safety. Taking extra vigil, Railway Protection Force along with dog squads have been deployed at some stations.
For crowd management, 42 Puja special trains will be operated by East Central Railway from November 6 to 13 in addition to regular trains for major cities of the country. Passengers are requested to avail the seats available in Puja Special trains instead of waiting list tickets in regular trains.
Along with this, Special Duty Officers have been appointed for crowd management at all important stations. Prompt redressal of grievances of passengers is being ensured through Rail Madad and through on-the-spot help booths and by Special Duty Officers. Passengers are also requested to use the UTS mobile app for general class tickets and avoid long queues at the ticket counters. Divisional Control Rooms are monitoring the operation of trains and round the clock round the clock for the assistance/convenience of passengers at stations and trains.
Railway administration requests passengers to avoid taking tickets from ticket brokers. The Railway Protection Force continues to run a campaign to check ticket touts. A special team of the RPF and commercial department has been constituted to check the ID of the passengers in the train to see the transfer of tickets. This team is also monitoring the touting activities in and around the stations. Recently, during raids by the Railway Protection Force against ticket brokers, 122 tickets worth about Rs 2.20 Lakh were seized from 04 ticket brokers.
The Intelligence Units of the Railway Protection Force are particularly proactive to collect all possible intelligence from various sources. Continuous close coordination is being maintained with the Government Railway Police/Local Police Central/State Intelligence Departments. A team of additional women constables of RPF "Meri Saheli" has been deployed on trains and major stations for the safety and help of women passengers.
Along with this, "May I Help You" help booths are working round the clock at all the major stations to help the passengers where senior staff of the concerned department are on continuous duty with necessary information. Also medical aid booths have been set up for medical help. Additional ticket counters have been opened at major stations and provision has been made for additional facilitators for ATVMs so that there is no problem in getting travel tickets.
Adequate security forces have been deployed at stations and in trains with special focus on foot over bridges/platforms and circulating areas. Apart from Railway Protection Force/Police Administration, railway personnel have also been deployed for the normal movement of passengers. Arrangements have been made by the security forces to board the normal bogies of overcrowded trains in a queued manner so that there is no jostling while boarding the normal bogies of long distance trains. In view of passenger safety to check anti-social elements and crowd control, round the clock surveillance is being done by Railway Protection Forces at major stations through CCTV cameras.