Eastern Railway, WB govt to discuss resumption of suburban train services on Monday

The West Bengal government and the Eastern Railway will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss resumption of suburban train services, railway sources said.

The development comes a day after the state government wrote to the Eastern Railway (ER) seeking discussions for plying of a few pairs of suburban trains daily by observing the COVID-19 regulations.

"There is a meeting tomorrow at the state secretariat.

The general manager of Eastern Railway and other railway officials will be present. The chief secretary and the home secretary will be present on behalf of the state government.

We will discuss various aspects related to the resumption of train services," a senior railway official said.

Noting that the state government has helped the railway authorities to run metro trains peacefully and efficiently, Additional Chief Secretary (home) H K Dwivedi had urged the Eastern Railway to run a few pair of suburban trains daily.

"Rather than taking resort (resorting) to unquiet means, we could and discuss how a few pairs of trains could be run locally in the morning and in the afternoon hours to serve the general commuters at large," read the letter written by Dwivedi.

The decision to write to the Eastern Railway came in the backdrop of violence at Howrah station after the railway police chased away some commuters as they tried to break open the locked gate of the Howrah-Burdwan Staff Special Train at the station on Saturday.