The Ministry of Railways has announced plans to build permanent passenger holding areas at 76 more railway stations across India following the success of the one at New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS).
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has approved the expansion of permanent passenger holding areas after the successful implementation of the facility at NDLS.
Railways to Build Permanent Passenger Holding Areas at 76 Stations After NDLS Success
The holding area at New Delhi station proved effective in managing large crowds during the Diwali and Chhath rush.
According to the Ministry of Railways, “New Delhi station could smoothly handle the extremely heavy rush of Diwali and Chhath with the help of holding area.”
The new initiative aims to provide similar crowd management and passenger comfort facilities at other major stations.
Initially, the ministry will construct these permanent passenger holding areas at 76 additional stations across the country.
The project targets completion before the 2026 festive season to ensure smoother passenger flow during peak travel times.
At New Delhi station, the first permanent holding area was completed within four months, setting a model for the upcoming expansion.
The ministry stated that the decision was made after reviewing the success of NDLS’s pilot project, which improved passenger handling during high-demand periods.
These new passenger holding areas are expected to become an integral part of future station infrastructure under Indian Railways’ modernization plans.
Complete List of Permanent Passenger Holding Areas Across 76 Railway Stations
The Ministry of Railways has announced that Permanent Passenger Holding Areas will be developed at 76 railway stations across India. These include six stations under the Central Railway—Mumbai CSMT, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Nagpur, Nashik Road, Pune, and Dadar; five under the Eastern Railway—Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Bhagalpur, and Jasidih; and six under the East Central Railway—Patna, Danapur, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Darbhanga, and Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay. The East Coast Railway will have them at Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, and Puri.
Under the Northern Railway, twelve stations—New Delhi, Anand Vihar Terminal, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Jammu Tawi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, Ludhiana, Lucknow (NR), Varanasi, Ayodhya Dham, and Haridwar—will have these facilities. The North Central Railway will include Kanpur, Virangana Lakshmi Bai Jhansi, Mathura, and Agra Cantt. The North Eastern Railway will cover Gorakhpur, Banaras, Chhapra, and Lucknow Jn. (NER).
The Northeast Frontier Railway will develop holding areas at Guwahati and Katihar, while the North Western Railway will include Jaipur, Gandhi Nagar Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, and Ringus. The Southern Railway will have them at MGR Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Coimbatore Jn., and Ernakulam Jn. The South Central Railway will include Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Guntur, Kacheguda, and Rajahmundry.
Similarly, the South Eastern Railway will develop them at Ranchi, Tata, and Shalimar; the South East Central Railway at Raipur; and the South Western Railway at SMVT Bengaluru, Yesvantpur, Mysuru, and Krishnarajapuram. Finally, under the Western Railway, the stations are Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, Udhna, Surat, Ahmedabad, Ujjain, Vadodara, and Sehore, while the West Central Railway will include Bhopal, Jabalpur, and Kota.
