Railways will resume commuter services in three West Bengal divisions from November 11.
Calcutta:
Railways will resume commuter services in three West Bengal divisions from Nov. 11, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.
Services in the Sealdah and Howrah divisions of Eastern Railway and in the Howrah-Kharagpur division of the Southeastern Railways to be provided from November 11 will be demand-based, officials said.
Mr. Goyal posted on his Twitter account: “With adequate security measures in place, this will improve passenger comfort and make it easier for people to travel.”
Officials said a high-level meeting at the secretariat had taken place between representatives of the railways and the state government, including Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay.
Officials have decided that 181 pairs of commuter trains (or 362 trains) will initially operate in three divisions from next week and that a future decision will be made after assessing passenger numbers and adhering to COVID protocols. -19.
The meeting, the third since November 1 after passenger agitation for the immediate resumption of local trains in all three divisions, took stock of standard COVID-19 safety guidelines at various stations and trains and how to prevent overcrowding, they said.
Commuter rail services in all three divisions have been shut down since the pandemic struck at the end of March and the lockdown began.
