Railway Minister Vaishnaw tells officials to take immediate steps to resolve overcrowding in trains

NEW DELHI: Amid reports of overcrowding in trains, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday reviewed the security, punctuality and services in stations and trains during a meeting with members and officials of the Railway Board, zones and divisions.

At the high-level meeting, held through video-conferencing, the minister emphasized that safety and infrastructure are paramount and there cannot be any compromise on this front, officials said.

"A detailed discussion on all issues related to passenger safety and amenities took place. The special focus of the meeting was on ways to improve services as well as punctuality of trains and avoid overcrowding by identifying busy routes and introducing special trains on them," a senior railway official, who attended the meeting, said.

"Also, regular services of equipment such as ACs, fans, and water coolers at stations to be ensured during summer rush," he said.

A divisional railway manager said the minister has emphasized that punctual running of trains will go hand in hand with safety and passenger amenities.

On the punctuality front, Vaishnaw has directed officials to analyse the root cause of train detention on certain stretches which impacts the overall punctuality, he said.

"The Minister also emphasized that unwarranted train detentions shall not be acceptable and punctuality figures are to be strictly monitored and overall punctuality should be improved," the official said.

Railway sources also said the minister took cognizance of the menace of overcrowding in the trains during the summer rush and urged officials to take immediate measures to resolve the problem.