look news india
Central Railway has taken an important administrative step to handle the huge crowd of passengers leaving for their home districts in trains on the auspicious occasion of Diwali and Chhath festival and to prevent unpleasant incidents like stampedes at stations. The railway administration has temporarily closed the sale of platform tickets at the five most busy and sensitive stations connected to Mumbai and its suburban network with immediate effect.
During festivals, not only the traveling passengers but also a large number of relatives and friends reach the platform to drop and bid farewell to them. This creates excessive pressure on platforms, stairs, foot-over bridges (FOBs) and entry gates, due to which passengers with confirmed tickets face immense difficulties in boarding the train coach. This strict order of Central Railway will remain effective in the coming days till the end of Chhath Puja and the festive traffic becomes normal.
According to the official notification issued by the Mumbai Division of Central Railway, the sale of platform tickets has been completely banned at the following five major terminus and junction stations:
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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)
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Dadar Central (Dadar Railway Station)
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Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT – Kurla)
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Thane Railway Station (Thane)
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Kalyan Junction
The Railway administration has clarified that this ban is not limited only to the station’s general ticket counters (Unreserved Ticketing System – UTS), but the option to generate platform tickets for these five stations has also been blocked on the Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) installed in the station premises and the Railways’ Mobile Ticketing App (UTS App). Entry into the station premises and platform area is being allowed only to those persons who have valid travel ticket (reserved or unreserved railway ticket).
Along with closing platform tickets for common citizens, Railways has also made it clear that on humanitarian and medical grounds, the families of needy passengers will not be allowed to face any inconvenience. One attendant accompanying the following categories of passengers will be given special permission to access the platform after checking by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and station authorities:
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Senior Citizens: Companions who come to the aid of elderly and senile travelers.
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Divyangjan: Caretakers of physically disabled or wheelchair-using passengers.
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Women traveling with small children: Solo female travelers who need help carrying heavy luggage or looking after children.
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Unwell and sick passengers: It is mandatory for those who are given medical aid or support to be taken to the coach.
Security personnel deployed at the station entrances will, in such cases, verify identity and necessity and grant conditional permission to access the platform.
Apart from restrictions on platform tickets, Central Railway has taken extensive security measures to manage crowd at these five stations:
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Deploying additional forces: Additional personnel of RPF and GRP have been deployed in the platform, FOB and circulating areas.
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Queue System: For passengers boarding unreserved (General/Unreserved) coaches, queues are being formed in the holding area even before reaching the platform, so that there is no jostling as soon as the train arrives.
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24×7 monitoring by CCTV: Round the clock live video monitoring of all major platforms and entry gates is being done from the control room.
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One-way movement arrangement: Separate entry and exit routes have been set up at many stations to prevent crowd clashes.
Central Railway Administration has appealed to all railway passengers to reach the station at least 1 to 1.5 hours before the scheduled departure of the train so that there is no inconvenience in the security check and queuing process. Also, passengers have been requested to avoid bringing unnecessary family members or friends with them while leaving the station, so that unnecessary crowd pressure is not created in the station premises. Passenger Railway Helpline Number for any kind of assistance, train timings or coach status information 139 You can contact at.