Holi Rush: Special trains and crowd control at Tatanagar

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, Mar 10: With the expected surge in passengers during Holi, the Tatanagar Railway Administration has deployed a team of 16 supervisors from the Railway Commercial Department for crowd management. Teams from the Chakradharpur Division will work in three shifts to monitor passenger facilities and assist the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) in ensuring smooth boarding. RPF and GRP personnel will form queues at the station before allowing passengers into general coaches to prevent overcrowding and accidents. If the crowd increases, two additional ticket counters will be opened to manage the rush. An operator must also be present at all five ticket vending machines at both station gates 24 hours a day. The Railway Enquiry Office has been instructed to make continuous announcements about train schedules and display real-time updates on digital boards.

“We have made special arrangements for crowd control and passenger safety during Holi. The Commercial Department and RPF personnel have been deployed to manage the rush,” said Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, SDCM, Chakradharpur Railway Division. To prevent overcrowding, the railway administration is also planning to restrict platform ticket holders from entering the station during the arrival and departure of select Bihar-bound trains, including Tata-Thawe Express, Tata-Buxar Express and South Bihar Express. Platform tickets for these trains will only be available one hour before departure.

To accommodate the festive rush, the Railways has announced two Holi Special trains from Tatanagar. Train number 08181/08182 Tata-Katihar Special will depart from Tatanagar on March 12 at 1 PM, reaching Katihar on March 13 at 2 PM, with the return journey starting from Katihar at 3:50 AM on March 13 and reaching Tatanagar by 4 PM the same day. The 08183/08184 Tata-Buxar Special will leave Tatanagar on March 12 at 4:20 PM, reaching Shalimar on March 13, while the return train will depart Buxar on March 13 at 10 AM and arrive in Tatanagar by 3 AM on March 14. These trains will stop at important stations like Chandil, Purulia and Jaichandi Pahad, offering much-needed relief to travelers heading toward Patna and Bihar.