Sources say similar crowds have not been witnessed at other railway stations yet, unlike last year; authorities say there are enough trains
Passengers wait in queues outside LTT on Tuesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
With a statewide lockdown imposed from today, the situation at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) is slowly turning into the one seen last year around this time. Even though the railways has announced a host of summer special trains, crowds continue to surge at LTT, with many travelling to the north. While many believe that people were travelling back home in view of another lockdown, railways says this is the usual summer rush. However, similar crowds have not been witnessed at other railway stations yet, unlike last year.
A government railway police (GRP) officer said, “There were more people and complete chaos on the road outside the station premises as only confirmed ticket holders are being allowed inside. A number of special trains have been lined up, but the crowds are increasing. The news of a proposed lockdown must have added to it.” There were allegations that people were lathi-charged at LTT, but officials refuted it and said there was a huge rush for Pawan and Kamyani Express but no force was used.
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Why issue waitlist tickets?
mid-day spoke to passengers, many of whom had lost their jobs and had booked tickets to return home anticipating a bigger lockdown. “We had waitlist tickets but on reaching the station we could not go inside. If the railways is not allowing us inside the station on waitlist tickets then why did they issue those?” asked passenger Ramsaran Dhruv.
Another passenger Mithilesh Kumar said, “If new trains are being announced, then we should be adjusted in them. Even if we have waitlist tickets, we have paid for them.”
Central Railway tweeted photos of LTT throughout the day on an hourly basis with the date and time stamp to show that crowding did not lead to chaos. Railway officials said that there was no need to panic as there was no shortage of trains and they were monitoring the situation on a real-time basis.
Crowd much less this time
Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer, Shivaji Sutar said that it was the usual summer rush and this time the crowd was 20-30 per cent less as compared to what it was last year.
“Trains will continue to run, and we will ensure that passengers don’t face any inconvenience. So far, we have announced 230 summer specials to the north and east. We will run additional trains to clear the summer rush. People are requested not to panic and rush to stations,” he added.
Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Sumit Thakur said they were monitoring the waiting list on a real-time basis and announcing trains based on the requirement.
Railways’ Plan B
When asked what would be the Plan B to cater to the increasing rush, a CR official said, “Instead of arranging all holiday special trains from Kurla LTT, which seems to be leading to more crowds, the railways is now planning to spread the trains across stations like Mumbai CSMT, Dadar and Panvel.
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