Special holding area, no entry without tickets: New measures at New Delhi Railway Station ahead of final lap of Maha Kumbh

Along with this, additional deployment of Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel has been made to enhance passenger safety at key stations including Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, New Delhi, and Anand Vihar.

At the entrance to the holding area at New Delhi station on Friday, Tansukh, an RPF personnel, continuously announced with a megaphone: “Jinko general ticket chahiye voh pandaal ke andar aa jaaye (Those who want a general ticket, come inside the pandal).

Spread over 12,710 sqft at the Ajmeri gate side, the holding area is covered with a white sheet and has a green carpet on the ground. It houses a total of 10 unreserved ticket counters, 10 automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs), a food stall, an inquiry counter, and a large whiteboard with handwritten, platform-wise, lists of trains en route to Prayagraj.

“I was deployed at the Senior Divisional Security Commissioner’s office. But we have been called here to maintain security for Prayagraj passengers,” said Tansukh. He paused to tell people to not stop at the gate and move towards Platform 16. “I have to keep making this announcement so people go the right way and do not unnecessarily create a crowd near the station.”

A day after the stampede, the Northern Railways, the zone under which the station falls, decided that all special trains in the direction of Prayagraj would be run from platform number 16 to the extent possible.

Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Northern Railways, said the holding area can accommodate at least 10,000 people. “It helps us to control the flow of passengers and prevent overcrowding. Passengers are allowed to enter the platforms based on the scheduled departure times of their trains,” he said.

Apart from New Delhi Railway station, holding areas are in place at Ghaziabad (measuring 4,200 sq ft) and Anand Vihar (3,800 sq ft) stations.

K K Lavana, a commercial department officer and a supervisor at New Delhi Railway Station, said 20 checking staff from other places have been called to Delhi to ensure people do not enter without a ticket. “We’ve set up counters inside the holding area so second-class ticket holders do not have to go to the first floor for general tickets. They can get the ticket here and enter through Gate 12, adjacent to the holding area, to go to Platform 16,” said Lavana.

Ram Bhajan Shukla, staff at the ticket booking counter, said around 70% of the general tickets being booked were for Prayagraj: “There is no dip in passengers going to the Maha Kumbh. Currently, I have to book an average of 700 tickets per day.”

Ticket inspector Rajiv Kumar said the key factor in managing a crowd is to provide clear information to passengers. “To avoid any kind of crowd-related incident, we should make many entry and exit points. We also need to categorise passengers according to the reserved and unreserved categories. That is being implemented here. Passengers are not allowed to cross the ropes (safety area) while a train is arriving at the platform. They are made to line up to board the train so they don’t fight to get in,” said Kumar.