News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal Local Trains

  • Bengal government modifies order to extend train services till 10 pm as people jostle to board coaches

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Amid blockades at several railway stations on Monday in protest against the curbs imposed on local train services in Bengal, the state government modified the order its issued a day ago, extending operations till 10 pm from the earlier 7 pm.

    According to the modified order, the last train will leave its station of origin at 10 pm, an official said.

    “In modification of the earlier order, local train services will now be extended up to 10 pm in place of 7 pm. The last train will leave at 10 pm,” the official at the state secretariat said.

    On Sunday, Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi, while announcing fresh COVID-19 curbs in the state, had said that local trains would be allowed to operate at 50 per cent seating capacity till 7 pm.

    Commuters during the day were seen travelling in crowded local trains, thumbing their nose to the restrictions imposed by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19.

    Some of them were found desperately pushing the others while trying to board the jam-packed coaches in the evening, on their way home from work.

    Eastern Railway spokesperson Ekalavya Chakraborty said services would continue till 10 pm and not 7 pm, in accordance with the directions of the state government.

    Other mail, express, long-distance passenger trains, parcel and freight services would run as per usual schedule, he told reporters.

    Wearing masks in trains has been made mandatory, and railway authorities are making time-to-time announcements to generate passenger awareness on COVID-19 protocols, he added.

    Locals in Baruipur claimed that a woman fell off a moving train in the Sealdah south section late in the afternoon.

    She was taken to nearby hospital for treatment, they said.

    The ER spokesperson, however, said that the railways had no such information.

  • Commuters cram coaches as regular local train services resume after six months in West Bengal

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: On the first day of resumption of regular local train services on Monday after a nearly six-month hiatus, crammed coaches raised the fear of spread of coronavirus amid rising Covid-19 cases in West Bengal.

    The state government in a recent order allowed intra-state local train movement with 50 per cent seating capacity from October 31.

    Eastern Railway (ER), which carries the bulk of local and suburban passengers in its Howrah and Sealdah divisions, operated trains on Sunday as per its holiday schedule, while regular services started from Monday.

    As jam-packed rakes entered Howrah and Sealdah terminal stations during the morning office hours, ER spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said efforts are being made to ensure that passengers abide by the Covid-19 safety protocols including maintaining distance and wearing masks.

    “We are making announcements at stations urging passengers to consciously abide by the safety guidelines,” he said.

    Chakraborty said that a number of passengers have been penalised for not wearing masks at railway stations and in trains.

    Chakraborty said the ER was advising people, especially the elderly, through public address systems at railway stations to avoid unnecessary travel.

    ER, a Kolkata-headquartered zonal railway, has decided to run more than 920 Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains in its Sealdah division and over 480 trains in the Howrah division from Monday.

    The South Eastern Railway (SER), another zonal railway headquartered in the city, is running 48 EMU services in its Kharagpur division, an official said.

    Despite strict guidelines for maintaining social distance and wearing masks, a section of passengers were seen without masks in crowded coaches.

    “We have to go to work. What can we do if we have no other option but to avail crowded trains?” said Ranjan Das, who works at a trading firm in the Burrabazar area of the city.

    Minakshi Bhattacharya, an employee of a private company here, said despite being afraid of contracting the infection, she was availing the local train service since it was way better than travelling by crowded buses and auto-rickshaws which also cost much more for her to commute from Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district where she lives.

    “We want the number of local train services to be increased during office hours to ensure less crowding and to maintain health safety guidelines,” she said.

    West Bengal has been showing an upward trend in the number of daily Covid-19 infections since the Durga Puja celebrations last month, with the bulk of the cases being reported from Kolkata and its neighbouring districts of North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly.

    Suburban EMU and other local train services were suspended by the West Bengal government from May 7 to check the spread of coronavirus during the second phase of the pandemic.

    However, ER and SER have been running staff special trains in their respective zones.