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After the success of the holding area at New Delhi Railway Station, Indian Railways is going to implement it across the country. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has directed that this model should be adopted rapidly before festivals like Diwali and Chhath. Holding areas are being built at 76 railway stations in the country, where passengers will get basic facilities like seating, water and ticketing. Its purpose is to handle the increasing crowd during festivals in a safe and orderly manner.
New Delhi. Indian Railways has taken a big step to deal with the huge crowd gathering at railway stations during festivals. After the successful arrangement of holding area at New Delhi Railway Station, now the same model will be implemented at major stations across the country. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has instructed the officials to give priority to the convenience and safety of passengers before big festivals like Diwali and Chhath.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu reviewed the progress of the holding areas being built at 76 railway stations of the country. It was made clear in the meeting that the positive experience gained at New Delhi station will now be replicated at the national level so that crowd management can be more effective.
Will be ready on modular design
According to Railways, the holding areas to be built across the country will be based on modular design. These will be prepared keeping in mind the available space and local needs of the station. These areas will have ticketing counters, seating areas, drinking water and controlled entry system for the passengers, so that the sudden increase in crowd can be handled before reaching the platform.
Delhi is an example
The permanent holding area built at New Delhi Railway Station is the biggest example of this model. There was a record number of passenger traffic during Diwali and Chhath, but despite this there was no chaos at the station. This passenger convenience center, which was built in just 4 months, has accommodation for about 7000 passengers at a time. This holding area is divided into three parts. This includes pre-ticketing, post-ticketing and ticketing zone. Due to this, the entry and exit of passengers remains organized and there is no unnecessary crowding on the platform. Railway officials say that this system has made the process of boarding and deboarding trains much easier.
Toilet, vending machine, free water
For the convenience of passengers, 150-150 separate toilets for men and women have been built here. Apart from this, facility of ticket counter, automatic ticket vending machine and free RO water has also been provided. Passengers get a safe and comfortable place to sit and wait before boarding the train. Railways believes that incidents like stampedes occurring during festivals can be prevented with the holding area model. In the coming time, when this system will be implemented across the country, passengers traveling long distances are expected to get great relief.
