New Delhi railway station considering ‘standby’ train to handle heavy rush

Railway officials are considering a special standby train at New Delhi Railway Station to manage overcrowding, especially for Bihar-bound passengers.

A day after a delay in the departure of several trains at the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS) led to a heavy rush of passengers at two platforms, railway officials on Monday said that they are discussing whether to keep a special train on standby to ease any overcrowding that may occur at the station — a crowd control option tailored specifically for NDLS.

New Delhi railway station considering ‘standby’ train to handle heavy rush

This special train, which will only have general coaches, will be kept ready at the stabling yard and will be pressed into service whenever required, officials said.

“Our observations reveal that overcrowding is frequent for all Bihar-bound trains departing in the evening. Starting a special train would help by catering to unreserved passengers, especially those bound for Bihar,” a railway official aware of the proposed crowd control measures for NDLS said.

The official, declining to be named, said this special train will drop passengers at popular destinations such as Patna and Hajipur, thus decongesting NDLS platforms.

Officials said Indian Railways (IR) is also holding internal discussions on additional measures that can be taken, which include printing the name and number of trains on platform tickets, which will in turn require changes in the passenger reservation system (PRS) software.

On Sunday evening, the departure of at least four trains was delayed from platforms 12 and 13, leading to extra crowds and heavy rush. Though officials were quick to clarify that no stampede took place, and that no injuries were reported, the incident brought back memories of the February 15 stampede at NDLS, in which 18 people were killed.

Explaining the reasons for Sunday’s incident, an NDLS official said, “After the February 15 stampede, railways introduced a rule stating that no platform change for a train will be announced, leaving no room for confusion among passengers. However, on Sunday, a delay in the departure of two trains led to bunching of trains.”

He added, “Although other platforms were not occupied, the new rule did not allow staff to change the arrival platform, causing platform 12 to remain occupied for an extended period. This led to chaos among passengers.”