Railway Faces Heat After Migrant Rush Chaos at Surat

Surat | Gujarat — Facing intense scrutiny after the massive migrant rush at Udhna railway station, the Western Railway has launched a high-level review to prevent a repeat of the April 19 chaos that saw thousands of workers crowd the station.

Western Railway General Manager Ramashray Pandey visited the station on Monday, inspecting platforms, entry and exit points and waiting areas along with senior officials. The visit comes a day after overwhelming crowds triggered panic-like scenes as workers tried to board trains to their home states.

“The chaos occurred because passengers believed it was the last train and no more special trains would run,” Pandey said during the inspection. “We operated trains at night too, and they were half empty. We have the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers, but only around 1,200 to 1,300 travelled.”

Railways Deny Lathicharge Claims

Videos circulating on social media have shown police action during the rush, but railway officials said the matter is under review.

“We are investigating the videos. Claims that there were no arrangements are misleading. The narrative being created is not correct,” Pandey said, adding that he did not see any evidence of police lathicharge in the footage he reviewed.

New Crowd Management Plan

Following the inspection, the General Manager issued strict instructions to strengthen crowd management at the station. Additional staff will be deployed during peak travel periods, especially when large numbers of migrant workers are expected.

“We request passengers not to travel only on Sundays. Trains run on other days as well and special services will be increased whenever required,” Pandey said.

Railway authorities are also planning to run additional trains during summer vacations and other peak travel seasons to ease pressure on the system.

Rush Compared to Festival Crowd

Officials described Sunday’s rush as unprecedented. “The crowd was like Chhath Puja levels. Around 25,000 passengers were safely sent off last Sunday,” Pandey said.

The railways insist there is no shortage of coaches or special trains and have appealed to passengers to spread their travel across multiple days to avoid overcrowding.