The Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal on Sunday said that the Indian Railways will run 696 suburban services in West Bengal from Wednesday, November 11. Piyush Goyal said that the running of suburban services will ease the movement of travelers.
All such services had remained suspended since March due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The approval to operate these services was given by the Railways after consultations with the state government, officials said. Taking to his Twitter handle, Mr. Goyal said: "Railways to run 696 suburban services in West Bengal from 11th November. With adequate safety measures in place, this will greatly enhance passenger convenience, ease of movement and facilitate smooth travel for the people."
Resumption of train services will take place in a phased manner. Initially, it has been planned to restore 413 suburban trains over Sealdah Division and 202 over Howrah Division. Out of 413 trains in the Sealdah Division, 270 will ply on the Sealdah Main/North (including Circular Railway) and 143 in the Sealdah South section.
The time table of suburban train services restarting effective November 11 is available at any Railway station and Eastern Railway website. The validity of suburban season tickets which have expired on account of lockdown will be extended to the extent of days lost, at the booking counters of the concerned stations from 0800 hrs of November 9. Normal journey tickets will be available from booking counters from the day of starting of EMU train services over ER effective from November 11. All the passengers are urged upon to maintain the Covid-19 health & hygiene protocol including mandatory use of mask/face cover, sanitizer with the keeping of physical distancing as a means of combating the spread of COVID-19.
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