The railway ministry has asked engineering consultancy public sector firm RITES Ltd to design permanent holding areas at five railway stations, including New Delhi.

The other four railway stations are Anand Vihar, Ghaziabad, Varanasi and Ayodhya.

“We have tasked RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service) Ltd to design a permanent holding area in New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Ghaziabad, Varanasi and Ayodhya railway stations,” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told PTI after a meeting with RITES team led by its chairperson Rahul Mittal on Wednesday.

“Once the model is ready, it will be expanded to 60 high-density footfall railway stations. Besides, all unauthorised access points to these stations will be closed,” he added.

According to Mr Vaishnaw, these holding areas will be integrated with the Amrit Stations Redevelopment Programme under which these stations are being modernised with world-class passenger amenities.

The railway ministry has initiated various measures in the wake of a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday evening which killed 18 passengers and injured many.

Besides creating holding areas at 60 stations experiencing high footfalls, other measures include a separate crowd management manual and raising awareness among passengers not to sit at stairs.

Interacting with media persons at the Rail Bhawan here, Vashnaw had said on Monday that the Railways has identified 60 stations that normally receive a high footfall and decided to make permanent or temporary holding areas outside the platforms to regulate the flow of passengers to the stations.

“Sixty stations such as New Delhi, Patna, Surat, Bengaluru and Coimbatore have been identified for creating a holding area to manage the flow of passengers inside the station. They will be allowed to enter the platform according to the departure of their trains so that the station areas don’t get overcrowded,” Vaishnaw had said.

He cited the example of stations in Prayagraj where the Maha Kumbh is taking place. Such holding areas have been created and the flow of passengers regulated successfully so far in the holy city.

Vaishnaw had also said a separate crowd management manual will be created by merging all existing provisions and a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will be developed to handle passenger rush during festivals and special occasions.

“We will have to make a comprehensive manual for crowd management,” the railway minister had said.

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