The Railways conducted a trial for crowd control measures on Saturday at New Delhi Railway Station. The Railways operated five unreserved (special) trains to Prayagraj from the New Delhi station between 2.30 pm and 11.30pm. Officials said the Railway Ministry chose Saturday to conduct the trial as a stampede had broken out between 8 to 9 pm the same day last week, killing 18 passengers and injuring many.Soon after the stampede, a temporary passenger holding area was constructed in the station area and it was decided that all special trains for Praysagraj would depart from Platform No. 16, the first platform from one side of the station. The experiment proved successful as it prevented overcrowding of other platforms and ensured seamless transfer of devotees to trains and their onward journey, officials said. The experience will help us in better planning of the running of special trains in future, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. He said: \”I monitored the whole experiment personally with the Chairman of the Railway Board from the War Room at the Rail Bhawan in New Delhi\”
