Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw chaired a review with senior railway officials at Rail Bhawan to assess station access, passenger amenity upgrades and security reinforcements to improve the passenger experience. The meeting focused on access control, crowd management, technology driven surveillance and ease of movement within station premises. Reforms will be implemented first at New Delhi Railway Station and will be rolled out to other stations after lessons are learned.

Comprehensive artificial intelligence powered cameras will cover platforms, concourses, entry and exit points and funnel areas prone to unauthorised entry, with live processing to alert monitoring staff to unusual events. An exception event display based control room will process feeds in real time and coverage zones will be properly lit to enhance detection. The Railway Protection Force will supplement surveillance based monitoring to ensure that only ticketed passengers enter station premises.

A colour coded identification system will require fluorescent jackets for railway employees and distinct jackets for non employees such as vendors, station sahayaks, contractual staff and IRCTC personnel to enable rapid recognition. ID cards with comprehensive details will be issued to all employees and non employees to strengthen accountability. The uniform regime will be progressively replicated across the North Zone with New Delhi serving as the model.

A QR code based entry management system will be piloted at New Delhi Railway Station ahead of the anticipated festival rush during Diwali and Chhath to regulate entry by ticket type and improve segregation of reserved, monthly season and unreserved passengers. The RailOne App will be integrated with Bharat Taxi, developed with RailTel, to provide reliable last mile connectivity and reduce congestion outside the station. Holding area upgrades across 76 railway stations will create designated external waiting spaces for unreserved travellers and signage and train information services will be improved. Direct monitoring by the ministry will continue to ensure sustained enhancement of passenger comfort at high footfall stations.