The Delhi High Court has questioned the Indian Railways over issuance of excessive tickets beyond the capacity of trains. Hearing a PIL filed over the New Delhi Railway Station stampede that occurred on February 15.
A bench of Justices DK Upadhyay and Tushar Rao Gedela has sought responses from the Union Government and Indian Railways over the PIL seeking safety measures at railway stations to prevent stampede situations.
“If you fix the number of passengers to be accommodated in a coach, then why do you sell, why the number of tickets sold exceed that number? That is a problem,” the court asked the Railways.
The bench also highlighted Section 57 of the Railways Act, which says the administration shall fix the maximum number of passengers that can be accommodated inside a train compartment. The court asked why the simple rules were not being followed despite mention in the Railways Act and why the Railways did not fix the number of tickets to be issued.
18 persons died in the stampede at NDLS on 15 February. Thousands of people have gathered to board the Prayagraj Special for the Maha Kumbh. Reports indicate that thousands of general tickets were sold in a couple of hours, leading to excessive crowd inside the station.
