Central Railway on Sunday imposed a temporary restriction on sale of platform tickets at major stations to reduce festival crowding, the move coming hours after nine people were injured at Western Railway’s Bandra Terminus while trying to board a train to Gorakhapur in Uttar Pradesh.
Nine persons were injured at 2:45 am while trying to enter the unreserved Bandra Terminus-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express when it was entering platform number 1 from the yard ahead of its scheduled departure at 5:10 am. Videos of the incident went viral on social media.
In a release issued during the day, CR said the platform ticket sale restrictions will be in force in Chhatrapati Shivjai Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Kurla LTT, Thane, Kalyan, Pune and Nagpur stations with immediate effect.
“The restriction imposed to manage anticipated crowding during the upcoming Diwali and Chhath Puja festive season will be there till November 8. This step aims to manage crowding on platforms and ensure smooth passenger movement within station premises,” the release stated.
“Senior citizens and those with medical needs, however, are exempted from these restrictions. Passengers are urged to adhere to the new regulations for smooth and safe travel experience during the festive period,” it added.
In another release, CR said it would run two additional unreserved trains between CSMT and Gorakhapur to clear the extra rush of passengers during Diwali and Chhath.
This will take the total number of services run or planned for these two festivals to 583, it said.
The 01019 unreserved special will depart from CSMT Mumbai at 2:30 pm on October 28 and arrive at Gorakhpur at 11 pm the next day.
The 01020 unreserved special will depart from Gorakhpur at 12:45 am on October 30 and arrive at CSMT at 10:35 am the next day.
They will halt at Dadar, Thane, Kalyan, Igatpuri, Nashik Road, Bhusaval, Khandwa, Itarsi, Bhopal, Bina, Virangana Lakshmibai Jhansi, Orai, Kanpur Central, Lucknow, Barabanki, Gonda and Basti.