10 April,2021 07:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
While the railways denied there were crowds, this was the scene at Mumbai CSMT on Friday evening. Pic/Ashish Raje
Suspending the sale of platform tickets on Central Railway with immediate effect to curb crowds, the railways on Friday hit back at the fake crowd videos of Mumbai railway stations being circulated on social media. The CR beamed live CCTV footage of all stations during a virtual press conference, to prove the point that there were no unusual crowds and said that they had launched a criminal investigation into the circulated videos, which were tampered with, to show them as latest ones. Western Railway officials also participated in the conference and said there were no crowds on its local stations either.
A screen grab from CR's live streaming of its stations
"Some old videos showing crowds at various stations are making the rounds of social media. Some news reports also falsely mention that there is a mass movement of people. These are mostly summer rush crowds and the railways usually run more trains in summer for the convenience of passengers. Adequate tickets are available as only passengers with confirmed tickets are being permitted to board the trains," Sanjeev Mittal, General Manager, Central Railway said.
"With a view to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Central Railway has decided to stop issuing platform tickets with immediate effect at Mumbai CSMT, Kurla LTT, Kalyan, Thane, Dadar and Panvel stations," a CR spokesperson said. "On Western Railway, the issuance of platform tickets has not yet been resumed and it will not be resumed. We are ensuring that only passengers with confirmed tickets are given entry in stations so that there are no crowds," Western Railway General Manager Alok Kansal said.
However, he appealed to people to avoid crowding at stations for outstation trains. He said, "At some stations, it has been noticed that long distance train passengers gather in advance to avoid curfew timings. WR is ensuring running additional trains and to augment existing trains with additional coaches for the convenience of passengers. We request people to refrain from sharing unconfirmed and fake videos and to break the chain of rumours alongwith COVID-19."
Kansal said that at no cost will local trains be restricted due to any reasons, unless there are fresh guidelines from the Maharashtra government, and special trains will be arranged as and when required so that there are no crowds. A CR spokesperson said, "Announcement of additional trains if any to certain places, is only an extension of ongoing gradual restoration of train services. The Railway administration appeals to everyone that any speculation about the reasons or panic booking of trains may please be avoided in such challenging circumstances of COVID-19. The Railways run more trains in summer for the convenience of passengers. Only passengers having confirmed tickets are being permitted to board the trains. Passengers are advised to adhere to all norms, SOPs related to COVID-19 during the boarding, travel and at destination."
