Chandigarh, July 28 — A major security upgrade is on the cards for the Chandigarh railway station, as Railway Protection Force (RPF) Director General Manoj Yadav on Sunday reviewed the ongoing ₹462-crore redevelopment project and called for urgent improvements to match the rising footfall.
Yadav, who inspected the station premises, said the current security infrastructure is insufficient for handling the 37,000 passengers the station sees daily. He directed officials to immediately plan the installation of X-ray baggage scanners, door-frame metal detectors, and a more extensive CCTV surveillance network, especially at high-traffic and vulnerable points.
“The number of people passing through here each day requires layered and efficient security,” Yadav told reporters during the site visit. “Scanners and surveillance will help us both in deterrence and in incident response.”
Officials from the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), which is overseeing the redevelopment, walked Yadav through the project blueprint. Alongside security enhancements, Yadav proposed structural changes aimed at easing passenger movement and improving crowd management.
One of his key suggestions was the creation of a dedicated passenger holding area, where travellers can wait before being allowed onto the platform. Drawing a parallel with China’s railway systems, Yadav said such controlled access would help prevent last-minute rushes.
“If passengers wait in a designated space, and we open platform gates just 10 minutes before the train arrives, we can manage congestion better and reduce the risk of untoward incidents,” he said.
The need for separate pathways for entry and exit was also raised during the visit, with Yadav noting that clearer directional flow could streamline foot traffic and improve emergency response readiness.
The station’s redevelopment, which is scheduled to be completed by October 2025, is part of a broader effort to modernise rail infrastructure and bring Indian stations in line with international standards.
