Diwali, Chhath test for New Delhi railway station: Can a ‘Yatri Suvidha Kendra’ prevent another stampede?

A vast new facility at the New Delhi railway station is being pressed into service to manage the immense festive rush, as the capital’s large diaspora from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh begins its journey home for Diwali and Chhath puja.

The 6,000-square-metre ‘Yatri Suvidha Kendra’, located near platform 16, is designed as a permanent holding area for passengers travelling without reservations, a demographic that swells to lakhs during major holidays. The initiative gains significance in the shadow of a tragic stampede at the same station in February, which claimed 18 lives during the Maha Kumbh rush.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the kendra is divided into three distinct zones: Pre-ticketing, Ticketing and Departure. On Thursday, queues had formed at each of the more than 25 red-and-white automatic ticket machines, where facilitators assisted travellers with their enquiries, most frequently for destinations like Patna, Gorakhpur, Kanpur and Muzaffarpur.

Northern Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay detailed the amenities to The Indian Express, listing “around 35 toilets for women and 20 for men, around 50 urinal units and a washroom for the specially abled.” The facility also provides benches for waiting passengers and separate entry and exit gates.

The operational strategy aims to minimise passenger movement and congestion. “We are trying our best to receive and depart trains from and to Bihar and UP from platform numbers 14, 15 and 16,” Upadhyay said, noting the proximity to the new holding area. A specific effort is being made to manage more trains from platform 16 to reduce the need for passengers to use escalators and stairs.

Crowd control measures extend to the platforms themselves. On platform 15, passengers are kept behind a painted line until a train is stationed, a measure to prevent a last-minute boarding rush.

Officials stated that those waiting in the Kendra would be permitted to proceed to their platforms only 15 to 30 minutes before their train’s arrival. Security has been bolstered with around 50 additional Railway Protection Force personnel and 30 rail sewaks deployed for assistance.

The facility received a high-level inspection on Tuesday, with Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari assessing the preparations. The Chief Minister highlighted the necessity of such infrastructure, acknowledging that “lakhs pass through railway stations and we have seen tragic incidents in the past.”

For travellers, the Kendra represents a significant upgrade. Vinod Kumar, 35, travelling to Prayagraj with his wife and two young children, contrasted the new space with past experiences. “There would always be a rush at the ticket counter, no space to even stand… This is much better,” he was cited by The Indian Express as saying.

The sentiment was echoed by other passengers. Jitendra Yadav, 46, heading to Asansol, remarked that it felt as though he was “sitting in an airport.” Another passenger, Imran Khan, waiting for a 10 pm train to Bhadohi, found the facility “very nice, comfortable.”

A woman bound for Barrackpore specifically appreciated the clean washrooms for women, though a fellow traveller nearby sounded a note of caution, quipping that users must also help maintain the facilities.