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Weeks after the stampede at New Delhi Railway station claimed several lives, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday announced the decision to create permanent waiting areas outside 60 stations across the country.
“Pilot projects have started at New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Patna stations,” a release said, adding that passengers would be allowed to go to platforms only when the trains arrive at the platform, which would decongest the stations.
Key takeaways from the high-level meeting chaired by the Railway Minister on crowd control at stations:
Passengers without tickets or waiting list tickets would have to wait in the outside ‘waiting area’ as those with confirmed tickets would be given direct access to the platforms.
- The railways also announced that two new designs of 12-metre-wide (40 feet) and six-metre-wide (20 feet) Foot Over Bridge (FOB) have been developed, which would be installed in all the stations.
- A large number of cameras will also be installed at all stations and adjoining areas for close monitoring.
- Railway staff members would be given new identity cards so that only authorised persons can enter the station.
- Station directors would be empowered to “control the sale of tickets as per the capacity of the station and the available trains.”
- The Railway Ministry has also cancelled all pending department selections on Group C posts that were not finalised and approved before March 4 due to irregularities in the selection process.
The New Delhi railway station stampede, which occurred on February 15, claimed the lives of 18 people, including three children.
A compensation of Rs 10 lakh was announced by the railways for the families of the deceased.
Additionally, the railways had also announced a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh for those seriously injured in the incident and Rs 1 lakh for those with minor injuries.
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