Railways braces to battle Holi, summer rush

First the delay in running special trains, after that the fog disrupted railways’ operations and aggravated the winter rush. Now, it’s time for passengers to slug it out for a berth for summer rush and Holi. Darpan Singh reports.

First the delay in running special trains, after that the fog disrupted railways’ operations and aggravated the winter rush. Now, it’s time for passengers to slug it out for a berth for summer rush and Holi.

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The Northern Railways have announced special trains for this period. On Tuesday, it also rolled out an action plan to minimise passengers’ problems.

“We want to ensure smooth functioning of reservation counters, open new ones and check malpractice. Touts will also be our radar. Surprise checks will help detect and curb frauds,” a senior official told Hindustan Times.

“Efforts will be made to ensure cleanliness at stations and on trains. Regular announcements about special trains, addition of coaches will also be made in advance so that people can plan trips,” he said.

But the problem is that such special trains are adjusted amid the route charts of regular trains, resulting in massive operational delays.

This, coupled with a not-so-efficient inquiry system, had left thousands of passengers stranded during winter festivals.

Passengers boarding trains to and from Delhi stations have been hit every day since December 23, when fog threw rail operations out of gear.

“To clear the extra rush, we are running special trains between Delhi-Ambala, Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Bathinda and Anand Vihar-Jammu Tawi in February and March. We will also run a Delhi-Varanasi special train for Holi. More such trains will be planned as we get close to the festivals,” the official said.

On Tuesday, Northern Railways announced four trains from Delhi to Allahabad to cater to the Kumbh Mela rush.