Bengal govt urges Railways to run local trains for general commuters

West Bengal government on Saturday urged the Railways to discuss with it the prospect of running a few pairs of trains locally for general commuters in the morning and in the afternoon.

It also accused the central forces of using “coercive means” to disperse general passengers trying to board trains of Railway staffs. The proposition was made in a letter by the state's Home Secretary H K Dwivedi to the General Manager of the Eastern Railway Suneet Sharma.

“Indeed rather than taking resort to unquiet means, we could sit and discuss how a few pairs of trains could be run locally in the morning and in the afternoon hours to serve the general commuters at large,” stated Dwivedi in the letter.

He also stated that all physical distancing norms and public hygiene protocols would be maintained for plying these trains.

Pointing out that the Railways is running suburban trains for its own staff, Dwivedi stated that it was “painful” to see other government employees and the general public being denied the service.

“In the meantime, you have resumed suburban rail services. It is painful to notice that you are running these trains for your staff only, while many other sections of governmental service providers and members of society at large are denied these services. We are anguished to see that your central force has used coercive means to deal with members of public today in railway stations, which is deplorable,” stated Dwivedi.

He also pointed out that the state government had already allowed Metro Rail services as well as national and international flights. The development comes at a time when several agitations were taking place at Rail stations across the state by general commuters demanding that be allowed to travel bin trains for Railway staffs.