Ghaziabad: Ghaziabad railway station will allow only passengers with confirmed tickets onto its platforms, as officials try to prevent a crowd build-up during the festive rush. Platform tickets will not be issued till Nov 14.“In view of the festive rush around Diwali and Chhath Puja, the platforms will remain out of bounds for people accompanying till Nov 14. Differently abled, old and infirm will get one attendant to assist them to the train compartments,” a railway official said.Earlier this year, the festive rush on account of Eid-e-Milad and Raksha Bandhan choked the Ghaziabad railway station and the bus terminals, with footfall rising to almost double the daily average. On Oct 30 during PET Exam, the railway station also witnessed a spike in passenger footfall and extra force had to be deployed to manage the crowd.The crowding revived memories of the crush at New Delhi Railway Station on Feb 15 last year when a wave of pilgrims tried to board trains bound for Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh festival, leaving at least 18 people dead. A subsequent inquiry found that the station held far more people than it was built to handle, a situation worsened by the continuous sale of unreserved tickets.Ghaziabad railway station, which sees an average footfall of at least 50,000 passengers daily, also witnessed a surge in footfall crossing 1 lakh. Ghaziabad station is on the Delhi-Howrah line and caters to local commuters through which over 200 people pass daily.Moreover, the railway station is undergoing a revamp. It began in January 2023 with a completion timeline of 30 months, but over three years later, only around 40% of the work has been completed. Since several parts of the station have been off-limits to passengers, this is also contributing to the crowding on the platforms.The station, spread across 1.5 lakh sqm, is one of 508 stations across the country being redeveloped under the central govt’s Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Officials told TOI in Aug that civil work related to the quarter building and station entry has started, but work on the concourse is yet to begin.
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