By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, APR 19, 2024: TO ensure the convenience of passengers and manage the anticipated surge in travel demand during summers, Indian Railways is operating a record-breaking 9111 trips during summer season.

This marks a substantial rise compared to the summer of 2023, where a total of 6369 trips were offered. This translates to an increase of 2742 trips, demonstrating Indian Railways' commitment to meeting passenger demands effectively.

The additional trains have been meticulously planned to connect key destinations across the country, ensuring seamless travel on major railway routes. All zonal railways spread across India have geared up to operate these additional trips, catering to the summer travel rush from states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Planning and running of additional trains is a continuous process for which inputs are taken from all the communication channels 24x 7 like media reports, Social media platforms, Railway Integrated helpline number 139, apart from details of waitlist passengers in PRS system, to assess demand of trains on a particular route. Based on this requirement, number of trains and number of trips are augmented. Neither the number of trains nor the number of trips run by additional train(s) is static for the entire season.

During the summer season, Zonal Railways have been instructed to ensure availability of drinking water at Railway stations . Elaborate crowd control arrangements are made at all major and important railway stations. Senior officers are stationed at these stations to monitor all the activities to regulate the crowd in a systematic manner.

RPF personnel have been deputed at originating stations to ensure Queue system for entry in General Class coaches. Skilled RPF staffs are deployed in CCTV Control Room to keep a close watch on the crowded areas and render real time assistance to passengers.

Government Railway Police (GRP) & Railway Protection Force (RPF) staffs are deployed at foot-over bridges to regulate crowd smoothly in order to avoid stampede like situation during the heavy rush period.

Indian Railways remain committed to providing a convenient and comfortable travel experience for all passengers. Passengers can book their ticket in these additional trains through Railway Ticket counters or IRCTC website/app.