Indian Railways mulls resumption of local train services in Kolkata, Bengal; Here is how

Indian Railways is mulling to resume sub-urban train services for the general public albeit with partial capacity. Railway authorities have chalked out plans to restart local train services with 50 per cent capacity. Along with this passengers’ strength, Eastern Railway will be adhering to strict Coronavirus safety protocols and measures, officials were quoted as saying by PTI.

Indian Railways officials have revealed that in the first phase, the local trains will run with 10 to 20 per cent passenger strength. However, Rail authorities will allow passengers’ capacity to increase gradually to 25 per cent of normal services. However, a final decision in this regard will be taken after detailed deliberations with top officials of the West Bengal state governemnt headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on November 5.

The local train services, considered the lifeline in Bengal, especially in southern regions, remained closed for the general public since the nationwide lockdown announced by the Central government in March due to an unprecedented Coronavirus pandemic. However, Eastern Railways is running a few pairs of trains reserved only for employees connected with emergency services.

On November 2, Eastern Railway General Manager Suneet Sharma and other railway officials met West Bengal government Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and state Home Secretary HK Dwivedi and discussed the issue of resumption of local train services during the meeting. Also, several aspects and measures pertaining to the resumption of local train services were discussed. Earlier, Additional Chief Secretary (home) H K Dwivedi has urged the Eastern Railway to ply a few pairs of suburban trains on daily basis for the general public in the “morning and in the afternoon hours”.