SCR Gears up to Handle Passenger Rush and to Curb Malpractices in Mass Contact Areas During Dasara / Diwali Festive Season; - Several Special Measures Initiated

South Central Railway has undertaken several steps to handle passenger rush and curb malpractices in mass contact areas during the ensuing festive season of Dasara / Diwali. Some of these measures include:-

1. 207 Special Trains have so far been announced to be run o­n SCR during the months of September and October, 2014. Most of these trains will be operated from Twin Cities (Secunderabad / Hyderabad / Kacheguda stations) to several popular destinations such as Vijayawada,  Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Tirupati, Guwahati, Santragachi, H. Nizamuddin, Gondia and Hubli etc., to clear extra rush of passengers during the  ensuing festival season. In addition, special trains o­n routes between Aurangabad and Tirupati; Kakinada Town and Lingampalli are also being run.

Moreover, the special trains between Howrah and Yesvantpur; Sambalpur and Yesvantpur; Pune and Bhubaneswar; Yesvantur and Jaipur; and Howrah and Chennai also pass through SCR system benefiting the passengers in this region. The details can be viewed o­n SCR’s Web-site: www.scr.indianrailways.gov.in.

The composition of several regular express trains o­n popular busy routes, bound for destinations such as Viskhapatnam, Narsapur, Machilipatnam, Shirdi, Yesvantpur, Tirupati, Bhubaneswar, Chittoor, Chennai, Amritsar and Pune etc., has been augmented temporarily by adding additional coaches in various classes during the months of September and October, 2014.  349 additional coaches - comprising of 94 AC Chair Car, 72 AC II Tier, 68 AC III Tier and  115 Sleeper Class coaches - have so far been augmented, making available  42,000 additional berths  to public in Passenger Reservation System (PRS) .

Also, the wait list position of Express trains is being closely watched by senior officials.  Extra coaches in various classes are being attached o­n a day-to-day basis to the trains with a long waiting list.

2. Extra ticket counters will be operated at major stations o­n need basis to ease queues at existing counters. Passengers will be encouraged to utilize E-Ticketing, Jansadharan Ticket Booking Sevaks (JTBS) and the Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) at MMTS stations in Twin Cities.

3. Officials from Commercial, Vigilance and Security Departments will carry out special checks during the festival season to prevent irregularities in Booking / Reservation to ensure that bona-fide passengers are able to book their tickets without facing any problem.

4. Squads of Commercial Officers and ticket checking staff will carry out surprise checks to curb the activities of anti-social elements and to detect sale of transferred tickets

5. Staff will be posted near windows outside the reservation counters at reservation offices  to countersign the reservation requisition forms after ensuing that all the required details were filled in, especially the address of the passenger.

6. Frequent announcements with regard to running of special trains and extra coaches being attached to trains will be made for the information of the waiting passengers at the stations, so that complete occupancy of special trains and additional coaches is ensured and pressure o­n regular trains is reduced. Accommodation provided in the special trains and the extra coaches is being fed in to the PRS well in time.

7. Special focus will be given o­n providing Passenger amenities such as adequate drinking water facilities; proper up keep of waiting Halls/Rooms; lighted signages; proper cleanliness at stations by deployment of adequate number of staff and making available adequate number of wheel chairs, etc.