KOLKATA: The railways will soon hold a meeting with the West Bengal government for working out a strategy to resume suburban train services in the state in a graded manner, a senior official said on Friday.
Long-distance trains will also be reintroduced gradually, South Eastern Railway General Manager Sanjay Kumar Mohanty said.
A joint decision on resumption of suburban train services has to be taken since there are several issues, including security at stations for maintaining social distancing and other safety norms, he said.
"We will work out a strategy for resuming suburban train services in a graded manner," he told reporters.
"South Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway will be very soon having a meeting with state government officers and a joint strategy will be chalked out and following the resumption, the services will be gradually increased depending on the experience," he said.
Mohanty said that regular long-distance trains will be reintroduced in a graded manner depending on clearances from the state governments, the COVID-19 situation and other related issues.
At present, a number of special trains are being run across the country.
Replying to a question on whether digital payments will be made mandatory for suburban trains like the Kolkata Metro, Mohanty said that online transactions will be encouraged but it will be premature to say that the physical ticketing system will not be allowed.