KOLKATA: Train services in the Ranaghat-Lalgola section of Sealdah division were disrupted for more than 24 hours owing to obstruction by a section of people at Jalalkhali Halt station in Nadia district, demanding stoppage of all trains passing through it, an Eastern Railway official said on Wednesday.
The agitators, who have been squatting on the tracks since Tuesday morning, claimed that residents of around 15 villages in the area depend on train services from the station, but only a few trains stop there.
"We are holding discussions with the agitators to lift the protest so that services are normalised," ER spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said. He said that Jalalkhali being a halt station, it is not possible that all trains would stop there. Chakraborty said that the agitators have been offered stoppages of a few more trains at the halt station.
He said that 12 EMU locals on the Sealdah-Krishnanagar line and at least two express trains connecting Sealdah and Lalgola were cancelled on Wednesday owing to the agitation.
At least six pairs of EMU locals were short-terminated at Badkulla station and short-originated from there to Sealdah, he said.
"People of around 15 villages depend on the station, but we have to either travel to Badkulla or Krishnanagar to avail trains since only a few stop at Jalalkhali," said one of the agitators.
He asserted that the agitation would be lifted only on the promise of stoppage of all trains passing through the halt station.