Suburban train services in state to resume from Nov 11

Kolkata: The suburban train service in Bengal is going to resume from Wednesday with around 181 pairs of trains to run initially.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday tweeted "Railways will resume suburban services in West Bengal from 11th November. With adequate safety measures in place, this will enhance passenger convenience and facilitate smooth travel for the people."

Authorities of the railways held a high level meeting with the top brass of the state government at Nabanna on Thursday evening. Subsequently, Goyal tweeted about the clearances given by the railways to resume suburban train services in Bengal.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also stated that more trains should be run to avoid overcrowding in one train. She also directed all concerned officers of her government to ensure that the number of Covid cases do not go up after the suburban train services resume.

Sources said that there will be another final meeting between the state and railway authorities on Monday. But if everything goes as planned then 181 pairs of trains will be run initially. It includes 50 pairs of trains from Howrah Station and 114 pairs from Sealdah station. The South Eastern Railways would be operating 17 pairs of trains.

A notification in this regard is expected to be issued on Tuesday. It is learnt that the trains will run as per the usual schedule with stoppages at all stations and the conventional ticketing system will remain in place.

The detailed standard Operating procedure will be announced on Monday after the meeting.

There was a detailed discussion on preparation of the SOP between the railway and state government officers during the meeting on Thursday at Nabanna.

Maintaining physical distance is being given first priority and there was also discussion on the need of total number of personnel at the entry

and exit points of the railway stations.