Trains cancelled for infrastructure upgrade work at Sealdah station, passengers face hardship

Passengers faced hardship for the second day on Saturday as several suburban trains were cancelled or short-terminated for infrastructure upgrade at Sealdah station here, officials said.

An Eastern Railway official said that 80 local trains to and from the terminal station in Kolkata's central business district were cancelled on Saturday, as was done on Friday, for the upgrade work.

He said that 147 services of suburban trains were scheduled to be short-terminated or short-originated during the period of the work, which include the length extension of five platforms to accommodate 12-coach EMU trains and for electronic interlocking system, from the early hours of Friday to Sunday afternoon.

A man fell from a running train near Titagarh station in Sealdah division and died after being taken to a nearby government hospital on Friday, the railway official said, quoting the hospital authorities.

The ER official said that the incident cannot, however, be attributed to the upgrade work going on at Sealdah, which he said was necessitated to ensure faster passenger mobility and convenience.

While banks and some offices are closed on the second Saturday of the month, several other businesses and establishments are open, leading to hardship for passengers owing to paucity of adequate number of trains.

The ER official said that out of 21 platforms at Sealdah, operation in only five was suspended for the upgrade work.

He said that 806 trains were scheduled to run during the period of upgrade work.

Four express trains will originate from and terminate at Kolkata station, instead of Sealdah station till Sunday, he said.

These trains are Sealdah-Ajmer superfast express, Hate Bajare express, Sealdah-Balurghat express and Sealdah - Asansol Superfast express, the ER official said in a statement.