Every year, thousands of people go to their homes on the festival of Diwali-Chhath, in view of this, railways operate many special trains. Even after using many special trains, many people cannot get confirmed tickets. Despite this, people return home one way or another. Nowadays there is a large crowd of passengers at train stations. An unusually large crowd was seen at the Udhna railway station in Surat on Sunday. Hundreds of workers from the textile and diamond industries were heading home to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to attend Diwali and Chhath Puja. The scene seen in Surat was somewhat similar to the dangerous crowd of passengers at Mumbai’s Bandra railway station, where 10 people were injured in a stampede.
The crowd increases even after many special trains
Officials said railway authorities have made arrangements to run special trains for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and a new train was added from Udhna to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. An official said that in view of the huge crowd these days, to ensure smooth functioning, trains have been sent to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from three railway stations in the city – Surat, Udhna and Bhestan.
Government Railway Police deployed on platforms
The official said the Government Railway Police have been deployed on the platforms to control the crowd as people come in large numbers to board trains bound for their destinations. He said 30 trains leave from Surat railway station towards UP and Bihar, 18 trains leave from Udhna and seven trains leave from Bhestan. Officials said many of these trains are weekly and some run two, three and even five times a week.
Special train running between Udhna and Gorakhpur
Meanwhile, Western Railways said in a press release that it is running additional festival special trains to reduce the extra rush of passengers this season. One of them is connected between Udhna and Gorakhpur since Sunday. Many workers working in the textile and diamond industries in Surat go to their hometowns in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to attend Chhath Puja and Diwali. Municipal Corporation officials said at least ten people were injured in a stampede at the Bandra railway station in Mumbai on Sunday morning. The stampede occurred when hundreds of people were trying to board a Gorakhpur-bound train to go to their hometown for the Diwali and Chhath festivals.
