Social distancing norms derailed at NDLS

Social distancing norms derailed at NDLS

Thousands Wait For Hours Outside Station To Catch Trains

Jasjeev.Gandhiok@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:02.06.2020

There was chaos outside New Delhi Railway Station on Monday as queues stretched for several hundred metres after thousands of passengers reached the station to board trains out of the capital. From Monday, Indian Railways started running an additional 200 trains, 74 of which would be connected to Delhi’s railway stations.

New Delhi Railway Station handled 23 trains on Monday. However, with barricades at the entrance at Paharganj, only one narrow queue was being allowed inside, causing people to wait for over half an hour just to enter the station premises.

When TOI visited the station on Monday, the Ajmeri Gate side was almost deserted with hardly any passenger rush being seen during the day, but the Paharganj side had queues stretching up to several hundred metres towards Connaught Place. People were standing barely a few inches away from each other. No RPF or police personnel could be seen separating the passengers and the traffic only made things worse.

Narendra Shukla who was headed to Kanpur by a 5.05 pm train said he arrived at the station around 2.50 pm itself. However, he was waiting in the queue for over 20 minutes. “It is moving really slowly and no social distancing is being maintained. I did not expect the situation to be this bad,” said Shukla.

Umesh Yadav who was headed to Dibrugarh said he arrived several hours early, but did not expect to stand in a queue for close to an hour. “They have called us 90 minutes in advance, but there appears to be no planning. This is further putting people at risk,” added Yadav.

The situation was no better at the platform. People were seen sitting next to each other as railway officials kept allowing all those passengers in who had been screened. Passengers were being allowed entry, even if their train was yet to arrive, to reduce congestion outside, said an official.

The first of the 200 special trains to depart was New Delhi-Una special. It departed from platform 10 of the railway station at 2.35 pm, carrying 806 passengers on board.

Northern Railway officials said social distancing was being maintained inside the station, with contactless thermal screening being done at six locations – three in New Delhi, two at Old Delhi and one at Anand Vihar.

“Regular announcements are being made regarding train arrivals and departures as well as to request passengers to follow all necessary precautions for safety against Covid-19 while travelling. Only passengers having a confirmed or RAC ticket are being permitted entry to the station,” said a railway official.

Five of Delhi’s stations will now be seeing movement of trains, including Old Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Sarai Rohilla and Anand Vihar.

ON THEIR WAY: Though thousands of passengers gathered at the station, railway officials said social distancing rules were maintained