Over 1,100 govt buses running to help commuters

KOLKATA: State Transport department is leaving no stone unturned to ensure passengers are not affected due to suspension of local trains.

According to sources, the state Transport department is running a full fleet of buses. Over 1,100 government buses are running daily. This apart, 120 buses have been deployed for catering to Kolkata Municipal Corporation employees and health workers. Ferry services are also being run in all 29 routes. A total of 1,246 suburban trains in both Howrah and Sealdah divisions have been cancelled after a new set of restrictions were imposed by the state government last week. Kolkata Metro Railway and road transport services were reduced by 50 per cent.

"We are running 170 long distance special trains on a daily basis from Howrah and Sealdah stations," said an official of Eastern Railway (ER). South Eastern Railway is running 104 pairs of long distance special trains from Howrah Station.

Meanwhile, private bus operators have stopped running buses in some routes due to less number of passengers following suspension of local trains in the view of COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are not running buses on two routes. These are 212 and 215 bus routes," said Tapan Banerjee, general secretary of Joint Council of Bus Syndicates. He reiterated that earlier lakh of local train passengers coming from different places and getting down at Sealdah and Howrah Stations. They used to board private buses to go to their offices.