The train from Delhi to Howrah will now operate once a week
Kolkata:
With coronavirus cases showing no signs of slowing in the state, West Bengal persuaded Indian railways to reduce the frequency of trains from Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The move comes days after flights from six “high prevalence” cities of the deadly virus were prevented from landing in Calcutta.
From July 10, special trains from Kolkata from the three subways will be reduced to one each. The Delhi-Howrah train, which operated four days a week, will now only operate once a week. Another Delhi-Howrah train will run three days a week.
The special trains from Ahmedabad and Mumbai that operated for the seven days will now be reduced to once a week from Friday.
Railway sources said the decision was made in response to a request from the state government to contain the rapidly increasing cases of COVID-19 in the state.
Incoming flights from six cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Nagpur – were suspended from July 6, at the request of the state government.
The Secretary General of West Bengal, Rajiva Sinha, had written to the Secretary of Civil Aviation on June 30 asking him to stop flights from these cities from July 6 to 19.
On Monday, West Bengal reported the highest day-long peak in the number of coronavirus cases with 895 infections. 21 COVID-19 patients have died in the past 24 hours. The state capital, Kolkata, also peaked at 244 new cases. In just 5 days in July, 3,567 cases were reported in the state, of which 1,187 were reported only in Kolkata. 89 COVID-19 patients died in Bengal, including 39 deaths in Calcutta.
