Railway staff gear up to handle passengers from June 1

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 29

The staff members at the local railway station are gearing to handle the resumption of trains from June 1.

The Railways released guidelines to handle passengers in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic.

It is mandatory to conduct thermal screening of all boarding passengers. A room will be kept for keeping symptomatic passengers detected during scanning.

All up (arriving) trains will be handled at Platform No. 1 and all down (departing) trains will be handled at Platform No.2, 3, 4 and 5.

The entry of passengers to Platform No.2, 3, 4 and 5 will be from three locations, including, the entry gates near food plaza, near Parcel office and circulating area of the second entry side.

Exit of passengers from Platform No. 1 will be from the main porch, all other entry and exit points shall be closed except entry for parcel office, Platform No. 6 and 7 shall be kept for handling Shramik special trains.

Bulk SMSes will be sent to those passengers with confirmed tickets who will only be permitted to travel. Passengers in the waiting list should not come to the station, as they would not be permitted to travel under any circumstances.

A ‘yellow’ strip painted at all platforms will be available to guide outgoing passengers so that they remain behind this strip to facilitate incoming passengers to detrain first.

Circles/ squares have been painted on the platform to guide passengers to maintain social distancing at the platform while entering.

Passengers have been asked to keep away from the yellow strip to maintain social distance at the platform and in train, to allow de-boarding of passengers first and not rush, as the train will be allowed to move only after boarding of all passengers is complete. People have to wear a face mask at the station and during their journey and should download the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app.

Vivek Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur Division, said these guidelines were received from the Minister of Railways.

All efforts were directed to implement these to ensure safety and well-being of passengers and the staff.

No-parking of vehicle except drop off and pick up of passengers will be permitted. Hands-free sanitiser dispensers with sufficient sanitiser will be provided at the entry and exit gates of the station. Sanitisation of passenger area will be carried out after the departure of each train.

Besides, the Railways has been running Shramik special trains on a daily basis throughout the country to ensure that migrants can travel back to their homes.

He said it was observed that some people who are availing this service have pre-existing medical conditions, which aggravates the risk they face during the Covid-19 pandemic. A few unfortunate cases of deaths related to pre-existing medical conditions while travelling have been reported.

So, to protect vulnerable persons from Covid-19, in line with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Railways has made an appeal to persons with co-morbidities (for example hypertension, diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, cancer, immune deficiency conditions), pregnant women, children below the age of 10 years and persons above 65 years of age to avoid travel by rail, except when it is essential.

In case of any distress or emergency, they should not hesitate to call out the Railways at helpline numbers 138 and 139.

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