KOLKATA: The Railways may be resuming 47%-48% of its suburban services from Wednesday but there will be little impact on peak-hour trains, an official said. Eastern Railway (ER) has assured that nearly 84% of services will be maintained during the peak hours as this is when trains are most crowded. This will help commuters maintain social distancing, he added.
“We used to run 177 services during the morning and evening peak hours. From Wednesday, we shall be running 148 services during this period. During the morning, most trains will be bound for Howrah and Sealdah while they would be starting from these stations in the evening. Depending on demand, this may go up to 100% as well after some time. So, people who used to travel to Kolkata on work need not worry too much about the number of services. There will be adequate number of trains,” the official said.
The morning and evening peak hours are the most crucial as these are when daily passengers travel. Over the last few months, after the unlock phase began, these are the people who suffered the most, having to spend a lot of money and time to get to their places of work. According to a banker, it was the time taken to travel that mattered most. “Earlier, it would take me about 50 minutes to travel from my home in Agarpara to my branch in the central business district. Now, the travel time has gone up to nearly one and a half hours,” he said.
The Railways hopes that running more trains during the peak hours will allow passengers maintain social distancing. People can avoid boarding trains that are crowded and wait for the next one. They can also maintain a gap while using the seats as per protocol.
“We are doing our best and expect support from passengers. Masks are essential and people should not get too close to each other at stations or on trains. We realize that this will be difficult at first as daily commuters normally travel in groups. However, adequate distancing must be maintained to prevent spread of the virus. Every passenger should realize that s/he can carry the virus back home and pass it on to relatives. Hence, they need to be very careful,” another rail official said.
The Railways also plans to start running the late night/early morning services that it used to before the pandemic. These trains used to carry newspapers and other essentials from Kolkata to the districts. These services are expected to start running within the next 10-odd days. Talks are also on with the Railway Board for resumption of UTS apps on mobile phones to book both daily and monthly season tickets.