New benchmark set in crowd management, say railway authorities

The railway authorities in the Mysuru division have said that arrangements made during the recent Dasara and Deepavali festival season has set a new benchmark in crowd management, safety and passenger facilitation.

Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, the Divisional Railway Manager Mudit Mittal said that the coordinated efforts of all departments ensured flawless and incident-free operations during the festival rush. This was due to the introduction of new initiatives, such as creating holding areas of 700 m at the Mysuru station, which enabled proper regulation of passenger entry to the platform in batches and prevented overcrowding, Mr. Mittal said.

In addition, as many as 54 special trains were operated during the season, and on the day of the Vijayadashmi alone, the passenger footfall at the Mysuru station was 1.06 lakh against a normal passenger traffic ranging between 30,000 and 40,000, he added.

To ensure enhanced security, 91 CCTV cameras were installed for surveillance, and additional RPF personnel were drafted for duty. Mr. Mittal said for the first time, emergency control rooms were established on platforms 1 and 6 with live CCTV camera feeds enabling real-time coordination and rapid decision-making. Joint teams monitored passenger flow at critical points through live CCTV streaming, ensuring crowd control and smooth movement, said Mr. Mittal.

To cater to any emergency, health kiosks were set up and ambulances were in place on platforms 1 and 6 to ensure 24×7 medical assistance in case of any emergency, he said.

In a bid to prevent crowding near the ticket counters and reduce waiting period, pre-printed tickets were used, and this was apart from introducing 17 additional ticket counters, which helped decongest the booking areas. This was in addition to encouraging digital ticketing by establishing three automatic ticket vending machines and four mobile unreserved ticketing units, Mr. Mittal said.

Promotion of the Unreserved Ticketing System on mobile app led to a notable rise in the sale of unreserved tickets and reduced congestion at the counters while enabling digital adoption, said the officials.

J. Lohiteshwar, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, and Girish Dharmaraj Kalakunda, Divisional Commercial Manager, among others were present.