Ahmedabad railway authorities have created dedicated holding areas at Kalupur and Sabarmati stations to manage the rising passenger rush ahead of Diwali and Chhath Puja, with separate arrangements for water, lighting, fans and toilets.
The facilities are intended primarily for passengers travelling towards Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where trains traditionally see heavy demand during the festive period. According to the report, the number of passengers travelling to their hometowns is expected to increase further this weekend after monthly salaries are credited.
Under the new arrangement, passengers will be seated in orderly lines in the holding areas before their trains arrive. Once a train reaches the platform, passengers will be taken towards the coaches in a queue. The railway administration said the process is designed to reduce pushing and crowding on platforms and allow passengers to board in a more controlled manner.
The holding areas have been equipped with lighting, fans, drinking water and toilets. These facilities are intended to keep waiting passengers away from congested platform areas until boarding begins. The report did not specify the seating capacity of either holding area or the number of passengers expected to use them.
The Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police will deploy additional personnel at both stations during the festive period. RPF personnel have been issued walkie-talkies to enable rapid communication and coordination if passenger numbers rise sharply at any location.
CCTV cameras installed at the stations will also be used to monitor crowd movement. If an unusual concentration of passengers is detected, personnel can be sent to the affected area, according to the report. The monitoring arrangement is intended to support intervention before congestion becomes difficult to control.
The railway commercial department, RPF and GRP will jointly manage the process, from seating passengers in lines inside the holding areas to facilitating their movement towards the train. Additional RPF personnel are being assigned to station duty to maintain the arrangement.
Kalupur, officially Ahmedabad Junction, is one of the city’s principal railway gateways, while Sabarmati serves passengers on routes passing through the northern part of the metropolitan area. The seasonal demand places additional pressure on station circulation, platform access and boarding operations, particularly on services bound for populous migrant-worker destinations in eastern and northern India.
The measures announced for this festive period focus on controlling the movement of passengers before and during boarding rather than only adding personnel after platforms become crowded. The railway administration is expected to maintain the holding-area, surveillance and queue-management arrangements during the Diwali and Chhath Puja travel period.
