‘Coffee Table Book’ by Railways on 550th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Sultanpur Lodhi Railway Station
Ferozepur, November 22, 2019: Railways have come up with ‘Coffee Table Book’ on 550th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Sultanpur Lodhi Railway Station.
During the 550th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Sultanpur Lodhi, a number of measures were taken to provide various amenities, facilities and services to the passengers/ devotees to make their visit comfortable and memorable. These measures included conventional as well as innovative activities to ensure safe and comfortable handling of passenger traffic.
This was the first ever Mela event organized over FZR Division. However, with the constant monitoring, dedication and team spirit, the event concluded successfully without any incident or complaint.
Brief description of a few such activities is as under:
- Testing of Pilot Project of printing UTS Tickets through UTS on Mobile App and Bluetooth Printers:
Under this project, 15 Android Phones, SIM Cards of Jio and Airtel Service Providers (for seamless connectivity) and 15 Bluetooth Printers were procured. Necessary software changes were made by CRIS to enable online Printing of UTS Tickets using UTS on Mobile App and Bluetooth Printers.
The above Pilot Project helped Railways to open online UTS Ticketing Counters at Station, Platforms, Tent Cities and Passenger Holding Areas without UTS connectivity and Uninterrupted Power Supply as these devises work on Lithium-ion Battery and Sim Cards.
- Passenger to Passenger (P2P) Ticketing:
During the Mela, P2P Ticketing was done through UTS on Mobile App and Bluetooth Printers. Teams of Commercial staff were deputed on Platforms and Passenger Holding Areas to identify potential passengers and issue online UTS tickets to them.
This innovative activity not only ensured that the passengers travel with valid journey tickets but also proved an important tool for crowd management by issuing tickets to the passengers wherever potential passenger traffic was anticipated preventing avoidable movement of passengers to/ from Ticketing counters.
- Passenger Guidance through innovative measures:
Despite the resource and infrastructural constraints, various innovative measures were adopted to provide requisite Passenger Guidance. These innovative ideas, which carried No Cost to Railways, proved highly beneficial to the passengers and were also appreciated by the passengers. A few glimpses of such innovative measures are as under:
Since the Coach Guidance System was not provided at Sultanpur Lodhi Railway Station, Placards indicating Coach Position of trains having reserved accommodation were used. Besides this, the coach position was also announced repeatedly through PA system. These innovative ideas proved very helpful to the passengers and were also appreciated by the passengers.
- May I Help You Badges
May I Help You Badges in Hindi, Punjabi and English were provided to Scout & Guide Volunteers for easy identification by the passengers. The Scouts with these badges were deployed at Platforms, Passenger Holding Areas and Help Booths to render all types of help to the passengers. This innovative idea also proved to be very helpful to the passengers for getting various information, guidance and assistance.
- Directional Guidance for Quick Passenger Dispersal
Placards were used to guide the passengers arriving on PF No. 2 to use Buses provided on 2nd entry side to avoid cross movement of passengers from PF No. 2 to PF No. 1. This proved to be an important tool for crowd management and helped in quick dispersal of the passengers.
- Railway Ticketing Counters and Help Booths in Gurudwara Ber Sahib and Tent Cities:
Railway Ticketing Counters and Help Booths were provided at Gurudwara Ber Sahib and all the three Tent Cities in Sultanpur Lodhi. At Gurudwara Ber Sahib, UTS cum PRS with UTS Ticketing through UTS on Mobile App was provided whereas UTS Ticketing through UTS on Mobile App was provided at all the Three Tent Cities.
- Setting up of Special Help Booths:
Besides the help booths provided at Sultanpur Lodhi and Lohian Khas Railway Stations, Special Help Booths were also provided at Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar City and Firozpur Cantt Railway Stations to guide the passengers regarding the Railway facilities/ Services as well as general information regarding the celebrations at Sultanpur Lodhi. Special pamphlets and Flex boards indicating timings of regular and special trains were provided at these help booths for information to passengers.
- Provision of Golf Carts:
Three Golf Carts were provided at Sultanpur Lodhi Railway Station for helping the Divyangjan, Old and Sick Passengers for movement from one Platform to other. These Golf Carts were provided with the help of IRCTC, Golden Temple, Amritsar and State Govt. Authorities.
- Provision of Bottle Crushing Machine:
One Bottle Crushing Machine was also provided at Sultanpur Lodhi Railway Station.
- Setting up of Round the Clock Commercial Control:
Round the Clock Commercial Control was setup for effective monitoring of various activities pertaining to passenger services and amenities, managing LED display, repeated announcements regarding train services and other important information, managing effective duty roster of Commercial Staff and Scout Volunteers as well as arranging their resting facilities to enable them to perform their duties comfortably.
- Effective Crowd Control:
Effective Crowd Control was ensured with the help of RPF Staff, Ticket Checking Staff and Scout Volunteers. For this purpose physical monitoring of crowd situation on platforms and holding areas, monitoring through CCTV cameras, human barricading, ropes & drums, management of entry and exit gates, repeated announcement through PA system as well as mega phone were used.
Owing to the infrastructural constraints, a novel experiment of segregating & managing crowd of incoming and outgoing passengers of 8 coach passenger trains arriving on PF 1 at SQR was also successfully tried. Under this plan, the 8 coach FZR-JUC Mela Spl. was stopped below FOB at LNK end (on rear portion of PF 1) for allowing the incoming passengers de-board. After complete de-boarding, the train was again moved and stopped under FOB at JUC end (on front portion of PF 1) for boarding outgoing passengers.
The RPF and Commercial staff ensured that no outgoing passenger is permitted at rear portion of PF 1. All the outgoing passengers on front portion of PF 1 were also covered to prevent them boarding of train before it halted completely.
This exercise proved very effective for crowd management.
- Use of CCTV Cameras, LED Screens and Video Walls:
CCTV Cameras were used for effective crowd control and monitoring various activities at Sultanpur Lodhi Railway Station. LED Screens and Video Walls were also used for Telecasting Live Kirtan from Gurudwara Ber Sahib and disseminating Railway Information.
- Maintaining High Standards of Cleanliness:
High standards of Cleanliness were maintained by constant monitoring of outsourced cleanliness staff.
Helping Hand to the Elderly, Sick Passengers and Divyangjan:
The Commercial Staff, RPF staff and Scout and Guide volunteers extended helping hands to the Elderly, Sick Passengers and Divyangjan which was appreciated by one and all.