New Delhi Railway Station sets up separate gates and one-way rules to manage festival rush

Northern Railway has set up separate entry and exit gates for reserved and unreserved passengers at the New Delhi Railway Station to handle heavy crowds during the festive season.

New Gate Rules

Under this plan, travellers must use specific gates based on their ticket type to stop overcrowding on platforms and entry areas. Passengers with reserved Sleeper and AC tickets for platforms 1 to 15 must use Gate Number 8 and Gate Number 11, which feature blue markings. Meanwhile, passengers in the unreserved or general class heading to platforms 1 to 16 must enter through Gate Number 12, which has yellow markings.

Crowd Control Measures

Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, the Chief Public Relations Officer for Northern Railway, stated that the station has also started a strict one-way movement system so that incoming travellers cannot use the same gates to exit. Railway staff are using handheld machines to give out unreserved tickets directly to people and cut down long lines at counters. Officials have temporarily stopped selling platform tickets to keep extra visitors off the platforms. New signboards are placed near foot bridges and gates to guide travellers, while ramps and paths remain open near the gates for senior citizens and passengers who need wheelchairs.

Context

Major railway hubs in India often face massive congestion during major festival periods when millions of people travel home. Authorities regularly use crowd management steps like restricting platform ticket sales and separating passenger flows to maintain safety and keep train schedules running on time.