Stampede at Surat railway station as people try to enter Bihar-bound train: 1 dead, 2 injured

The deceased, Ankit Virendrakumar Singh, 36, worked in a diamond factory, while the injured are his brother Ramprakash Virendrakumar Singh, 42, and a woman, Suija Singh, 30. The brothers lived in the Lal Darwaja area of Surat, and Ramprakash works as a security guard in a textile factory. Both hailed from Bhagalpur in Bihar.

Suija Singh stays in the Saroli area and was on her way to her native place at Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh. SMIMER hospital doctors said that the condition of Suija and Ramprash is stable.

People entering through broken windows in the Surat Bhagalpur Express train at Surat railway station. (Express photo by Hanif Malek)

On Saturday morning, over 5,000 passengers reportedly assembled to board trains on platform number 4 and were struggling to get into the coaches of Surat-Bhagalpur express train.

Western Railway GRP Superintendent Sarojini Kumar said, “There was overcrowding of passengers boarding the Surat-Bhagalpur train at the platform. In a bid to enter into the coaches, people were pushing each other, which led to one death and injuries to two. These passengers had tickets, and they intended to get on the train. We have deployed our teams in different areas and see that the stations do not get more crowded. We have also requested railway authorities not to issue passengers more waiting (list) tickets to overcome such overcrowding.

“Our teams are well trained in giving CPR. At present, our main focus is reducing overcrowding at the Surat Railway station; for that, we have planned a strategy and guided our staff to work on it. We will do it in coordination with railway officials and the RPF.”

Sources said the train could seat 1,500 passengers but more people were trying to enter, pushing each other. Some were also seen entering through the broken windows.

Western Railway sources said due to overcrowding, a stampede-like incident took place in one of the sleeper coaches, S7, of the train. After climbing the stairs, one of the passengers lost balance and fell in the aisle area and was stomped on by the others trying to enter the compartment. A man and two women also faced breathing issues due to overcrowding in the compartment. After some time, the man who fell on the passage area was taken to the platform along with those who felt suffocated.

After learning about the incident, the RPF, GRP and station officials reached the spot. Darshana Jardosh, Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles and BJP MP from Surat city, also reached the railway station in the afternoon.

Many migrant workers hailing from UP, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand work in the textile and diamond factories in Surat, and since Friday, as the industries declared the vacation, the people started returning to their native places.

In a media release, Western Railway PRO Sunil Thakur said, “We have taken some measures to overcome crowding at Surat and Udhna railway stations. The Western Railway runs around 400 trips of 46 pairs of festival special trains for various destinations. Of these, 27 pairs of trains are originating/passing from Surat/ Udhna. These festival special trains of WR have benefitted more than seven lakh passengers. Special trains are planned and run to clear the rush during the festive season.”

“For instance, eight special trains were run in different directions of the country by the Mumbai division on November 10, 2023, which either originated from the Surat area or passed through. This is higher than last year when only five special trains were operational. It is expected that these trains catered to around 25,000 passengers. Similarly, on November 11, four special trains were planned to be operated which includes Udhna Junction to Muzaffarpur Junction special train…”

“Extra coaches were attached to regular trains to clear the extended waiting list and increase the capacity of the trains. Additional booking facility is provided to passengers to reduce the long queue at the booking office at Surat, three counters and nine shifts extra have been added. So, now there are 14 counters with 38 shifts compared to 11 counters with 29 shifts before November 7.”

He said, “Commercial staff CMI, Dy SS (Comm) are at station for regular monitoring of the situation and provide help in any unusual situation. At Surat station, 165 RPF and GRP personnel while at Udhna station, 105 RPF and GRP personnel have been deputed for security and for crowd management.”

He added, “With today’s incident in Surat-Bhagalpur express train, we are also taking some more steps to prevent such incidents in future.”