COVID-19: Rail, Mamata government discuss SOP to run suburban trains

The one and half hour meeting was attended by chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and divisional railway managers of the different sections along with others.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (Photo | PTI)
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (Photo | PTI)

KOLKATA: Senior rail, West government and state police officials Wednesday discussed standard operating procedures to run suburban trains in Eastern Railway's Howrah and Sealdah sections and in South-Eastern Railways Howrah- Kharagpur division, an official said.

The one and half hour meeting was attended by chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and divisional railway managers of the different sections along with others, a source at state secretariat said.

The meeting also discussed increasing the frequency of trains from the initial proposal to run around 10-20 per cent of normal service and the possible number of commuters during office hours and at other times of the day, the source said.

The number of RPF personnel required in the stations and terminal stations and the kind of logistical help to be provided by the state to the railways for running the service also featured, the source said.

The officials will meet again on Thursday to give final shape to the discussions and arrive at a decision.

On Monday, senior officials of the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway had met Bandyopadhyay, other bureaucrats and top police officers and discussed the resumption of local train services which was stopped after the lockdown was announced in March to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

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