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A day after the tragic incident of stampede at New Delhi railway station, Northern Railway enforced a number of measures to avoid any such untoward incident in the days to come. It has been decided that all special trains in the direction of Prayagraj will be run from platform number 16. Therefore all the passengers wanting to go to Prayagraj shall come and go from Ajmeri Gate side of New Delhi railway station. Regular trains will continue to be operated from all platforms as the regular practice is. This is a step in the direction of avoiding peak hour rush getting accumulated in one platform, as per an official statement from the Ministry of Railways.
In addition, the deployment of RPF & GRP forces in New Delhi Railway station has been increased. These personnel assist the passengers by helping them towards the platform from which their train is scheduled to depart. In addition to the focus on increased operational efficiency in rush hours, Northern Railways ran three special trains by evening 7 pm to clear the additional rush in the direction of Prayagraj. This includes one special train to Darbhanga via Prayagraj and two more special trains towards Prayagraj. Besides regular trains towards Prayagraj one more special Train is scheduled to depart at 9 pm to cater to the peak evening hour demand. Given the unprecedented crowd of travellers wanting to go in the direction of Prayagraj, the Indian Railway has scheduled five more special trains Tomorrow, i.e. February 17, for Mahakumbh devotees. In order to avoid any untoward incident in future, Indian Railways appeals through media outlets to the public at large not to fall prey to rumours as was witnessed in the unfortunate incident at New Delhi railway station yesterday. All the travellers are requested not to change platforms on hearsay and strictly follow the official announcement. Indian Railway seeks the cooperation of passengers by adhering to the operational planning of Indian Railways. This will go a long way and help zonal railway authorities to smoothly execute planned regular & special train services for commuters. Railways Helpline no 139 continues to serve people to reach out for any enquiry and passenger support during ongoing rush situations. Indian Railways has received more than 130 calls relating to yesterday's unfortunate incident on this helpline number by 5 PM today. Further, Indian Railway personnel assisted the families of each deceased by accompanying them to their Homes and & took part in their final rites, as per the statement Earlier in the day, Indian Railways gave an ex-gratia of rupees 10 lakh to the kin of all the 18 deceased. An amount of rupees 2.5 lakh to grievously injured passengers and a compensation of rupees 1 lakh for passengers with minor injury were distributed to the 15 injured, during the day. The two member high level committee announced to probe yesterday's untoward incident has begun its work. The committee comprises Pankaj Gangwar, Principal Chief Security Commissioner and Nar Singh, Principal Chief Commercial Manager, Northern Railway, both Higher Administrative Grade officers, the statement added. (ANI)
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