Amid resentment over the West Bengal government’s decision to restrict local train services till 7 pm, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday after consultation with all the stakeholders modified the train service hours and allowed operations till 10pm with immediate effect.
As per the revised circular, “Local/suburban trains shall operate with 50 per cent capacity up to 10 PM instead of 7 PM as notified earlier, i.e., the last train shall depart from the originating station at 10 PM.” Sources said the decision was taken by the CM amid resentment across the state, with people complaining that the earlier order will create a lot of problems for the office goers, daily workers and private employees.
It was observed that due to the restricted local train timings, a large number of passengers overcrowded the trains in the morning fearing that they will not be able to finish their work a couple of hours before the last train timings at 7 PM from the originating railway stations in the state.
Since Monday morning, scary and shocking visuals started pouring in from various railway stations, including Sealdah, Bidhannagar, Seoraphuli, Howrah, Konnagar, Sodepur, Barrackpur, where passengers overcrowded train compartment as well as the railway stations.
Realising that the office-goers will face problems and to also reduce the mad rush, the chief minister consulted the matter with bureaucrats and took a decision to modify the earlier notification.
“In partial modification of order No-753/XVII-ISS/2M-22/2020 dated: 02/01/2022 in respect of restrictions and relaxations to combat spread of Covid-19 pandemic, under the provisions of Disaster Management Act 2005 read with West Bengal Epidemic Disease, Covid-19 Regulations 2020, it is hereby notified that local/suburban trains shall operate with 50 per cent capacity up to 10 PM instead of 7 PM as notified earlier, i.e., the last train shall depart from the originating station at 10 PM,” the notification issued by the West Bengal Chief Secretary, Hari Krishna Dwivedi, on January 3 reads.
Speaking to News18.com, Eklavya Chakraborty, Chief Public Relation Officer, Eastern Railway, said, “We have received the modified local train notification from the State Secretariat today and accordingly, we acted for the smooth transportation of the daily commuters. Now the daily passengers can avail the local train service till 10 PM (from their originating stations) instead of 7 PM as decided yesterday by the State Government.”
On January 2, the West Bengal government announced partial restrictions due to the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country. Following the decision, state BJP leaders called the “partial lockdown” “unscientific” and blamed the state government’s callous attitude behind the Covid surge in the state.
State BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya had said, “The state government has completely failed in handling the situation. This government welcomed the coronavirus in our state by encouraging picnics, parties and get together from December 25 to January 1.” “We oppose the restricted movement of local trains till 7 PM only. The poor people/working class are already suffering from the consequences of Covid-19. Now the state government has imposed restrictions on local train movement with 50 per cent capacity. The ruling party is creating more problems for the poor. How come people will travel with so much restriction? How will they go home if there won’t be any train service after 7 PM?” he said.
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