Saturday, March 29, 2025
New Delhi, August 22, 2025 – Passengers at New Delhi Railway Station will soon need to show a valid train ticket before entering the platform area. The Railway Board has directed that, as part of the second phase of an ongoing trial, only ticket-holding passengers will be allowed inside the station premises.
The move is aimed at controlling overcrowding, particularly in unreserved coaches, where passenger numbers often far exceed capacity.
The month-long trial will be conducted under strict security measures to study crowd levels inside the station complex and to help authorities prepare for upcoming festive-season rush.
The initiative comes after a tragic incident at New Delhi Railway Station earlier this year, which prompted officials to explore ways to reduce congestion. In the first trial phase, the Railways limited the number of unreserved tickets per coach to 150. Once this limit was reached, the system automatically stopped issuing tickets. This trial, which ran for about two months, was considered a success.
In a recent directive, Railway Board’s Executive Director Shivendra Shukla asked the Northern Railway General Manager to move to the next stage. Accordingly, only those passengers who hold tickets issued at station counters will be allowed to enter the station.
Currently, there are no restrictions on the number of unreserved tickets issued. Passengers can buy them either at station counters or via mobile apps. This unrestricted issuance often results in extreme overcrowding—sometimes 300 to 400 people cram into a single coach designed for just 80 seats.
Officials believe that by restricting ticket numbers and controlling station entry, management of passenger flow during peak travel times, especially festivals, will become far more effective.
Under the new trial rules, only 150 unreserved tickets per coach will be issued at the train’s originating station. At intermediate stations, ticket sales will be capped at 20% of the coach’s capacity. For example, if a train has four unreserved coaches, a maximum of 600 tickets will be issued at the starting station.
If the trial proves successful at New Delhi Railway Station, the system could be rolled out across the entire country.
According to railway sources, the software being used for the trial will only allow unreserved ticket purchases for trains departing within the next three hours. For instance, if four trains from New Delhi to Varanasi are scheduled within three hours, each with four unreserved coaches, the system will permit a maximum of 2,400 tickets in total. After that, no further unreserved tickets will be issued, similar to how quotas function for sleeper and AC classes.
