There have been indications from various quarters that the restrictions imposed in West Bengal, India, may be eased somewhat as the coronavirus pandemic situation improves.
But there are many questions about when public transport will resume. It is learned that they have made preparations keeping in mind the demand for the resumption of local trains. They also wrote a letter to the state last week requesting the resumption of local train services.
But railway officials said that there was no response from the state administration till Sunday. Therefore, they feel that it is uncertain whether local trains will start even after the restrictions are relaxed. At the same time, there are various questions about private bus services.
The metro authorities, however, have not yet applied to the state government to start services by sending a letter like the railways. However, the metro authorities have said that they are fully prepared to start services. They have also emphasized on vaccinating their employees to avoid infection.
Although local train services for the general public are closed, Eastern and South Eastern Railways are running a limited number of trains for their employees. In this, employees involved in essential services like health, banking, telecom have been allowed to buy monthly tickets. According to the railway news, a small number of local trains are running in Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol and Malda divisions of Eastern Railway and Kharagpur divisions of South Eastern Railway.
But the biggest problem with this service is in the Sealdah division. Despite the restrictions, the 12-car local trains are being overcrowded there. The first 6 coaches in those trains are reserved for railway employees and the next coaches are reserved for emergency services.
According to railway officials, despite running about 300 trains throughout the day, the Sealdah division is not able to handle the rush of passengers. Therefore, there is a demand to increase the number of trains in the interest of maintaining social distancing norms.
In this context, a railway official said, "As the pressure of passengers is increasing, it is necessary to run more trains to avoid crowding. However, that decision depends on how the state government relaxes the restrictions. If the state wants, we are ready to run all local trains."
