E-Paper
Special trains to Bengal from Covid-19 hotspots will now run once a week
The Mamata Banerjee administration in West Bengal had urged the Indian Railways to reduce the number of trains from hotspot areas as Covid-19 numbers in the state have been hitting new highs almost every day over the past one week.
Special trains between Howrah in West Bengal and coronavirus ‘hotspot’ areas including Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad will now run only once a week, railway officials said on Monday.
The Mamata Banerjee administration in West Bengal had urged the Indian Railways to reduce the number of trains from hotspot areas as Covid-19 numbers in the state have been hitting new highs almost every day over the past one week.
A spokesperson of the South Eastern Railway said that instead of daily trains, only one train would run between Howrah and Ahmedabad every week. The Howrah-Ahmedabad special will leave every Friday starting from July 10, while the Ahmedabad-Howrah Special will leave every Monday from July 13.
Similarly, the Howrah– Mumbai CSMT special will leave Howrah every Wednesday from July 15, while Mumbai CSMT- Howrah will leave Mumbai every Friday from July 17.
“The timings and stoppages will remain the same,” the official said.
The special trains between Howrah and New Delhi – both via Patna and via Dhaanbad – would also operate once a week starting from July 11. These trains used to run at least three to four times a week till date.
Earlier, the civil aviation ministry suspended flights coming to Kolkata from six cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad between July 6 and July 19. No such restrictions were imposed on flights leaving Kolkata and travelling to the six cities.
Till date, West Bengal has registered 22,987 Covid-19 cases with 861 new cases being reported on Monday. The death toll now stands at 779.
