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Railways to survey Mumbai stations to draw up crowd management plans

Important stations in Pune and Nashik will also be included in the exercise.

2 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jan 23, 2026 07:14 PM IST

Morning crowd at CSMT on there way to work. (Express Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

The Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) will undertake detailed surveys of major suburban railway stations and long-distance terminals in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra to prepare customised crowd management plans aimed at improving passenger safety and convenience, officials said.

“With passenger numbers rising steadily, systematic crowd management has become critical for safety and smooth operations. These surveys will help us redesign station layouts and movement patterns in a more scientific manner,” a senior Central Railway official said.

In the first phase, five to seven of the busiest suburban stations in Mumbai, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Bandra, Kurla and Prabhadevi will be covered. Important stations in Pune and Nashik will also be included in the exercise. The surveys will be conducted at stations under both Central and Western Railway jurisdictions.

“The objective is to understand the unique challenges of each station and prepare crowd management plans accordingly, instead of applying a uniform model everywhere,” a senior Central Railway official said.

The surveys will involve a comprehensive assessment of passenger movement and infrastructure during peak and non-peak hours. Officials said the study will map passenger footfall, train arrival and departure timings, platform capacity, staircases, foot overbridges, escalators, lifts, ticket counters and entry and exit routes. The location of stations, particularly their proximity to commercial hubs, business districts and busy road junctions, will also be taken into account while framing the plans.

The entire exercise is likely to take several months to complete. Each station survey is estimated to cost nearly ₹40 lakh, a senior Western Railway official said, adding that the expenditure would be borne as part of the railways’ safety and passenger facilitation initiatives.

Based on the findings, the railways will prepare recommendations to improve crowd handling and passenger amenities.

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