National: The Western Railway on Wednesday announced that a penalty will be imposed if the luggage of passengers exceeds the permissible limit for their respective travel class.

The announcement comes days after a stampede at the Bandra Terminus in Mumbai. The Western Railway urged people not to overcrowd stations.

What are the new norms?

Each passenger is permitted to carry a certain amount of luggage without charge, but items such as scooters and bicycles, as well as consignments exceeding dimensions of 100 cm x 100 cm x 70 cm do not qualify for the free allowance, a statement released on Tuesday read.

According to the railway authorities, passengers are allowed to book and carry excess luggage beyond free allowance, with them in the compartment up to the maximum prescribed class-wise limit on payment of charges at 1.5 times of luggage rate. 

The classwise maximum limit is as under:

        Class                    Maximum limit 

• 1st AC                   150 kgs
• 1st AC-2 tier         100 kgs
• AC 3 tier/ AC Chair Car 40 kgs
• Sleeper Class      80 kgs
• Second Class      70 kgs

"Western Railway urges all passengers to avoid overcrowding at stations and to enter premises only as necessary, in accordance with train schedules, while adhering to the established luggage limits," the release stated.

The step has taken to reduce congestion on platforms and facilitate smoother movement for passengers within the station premises, it said. 

"The free allowance varies for different classes of travel. If the luggage exceeds the marginal free allowance, a penalty will be charged accordingly," the release said, adding the directive comes into effect immediately and will remain in force till November 8.

The WR noted that the volume of parcels kept stacked on platforms for loading in trains causes inconvenience in passenger movement. Considering the safety and security of passengers, instructions have been issued not to stack the parcel consignments on platforms for a long duration before the scheduled departure of a train, the release said.

On Sunday, 10 persons were injured in a stampede during the heavy rush to board the Gorakhpur-bound Antyodaya Express train at the Bandra Terminus in Mumbai.