Special night-long train services for pandal-hoppers

Kolkata: In a bid to cater to the heavy rush of passengers during Durga Puja, South Eastern Railway (SER) will run special night-long services for the pandal-hoppers.

Security will be beefed up to ensure the safety of passengers.

"We have decided to run trains whole night during Durga Puja this year. The whole night train service will be available from Shashthi to Dashami. Both men and women RPF officials will be deployed during the night services for security reasons," said said Bidhan Chandra, public relations officer, South Eastern Railway.

Apart from the night services, South Eastern Railway will run 13 pairs of special trains between Santragachi and Puducherry from October 5 to December 30.

The special train, consists of 16 general second class coaches, will have stoppages at Kharagpur, Tatanagar, Chandil, Purulia, Joychandi Pahar, Asansol, Chittaranjan, Madhupur, Jasidih, Jhajha and Kiul between Santragachi and Barauni. The Eastern Railway (ER) is leaving no stone unturned to have foolproof security arrangements at all major railways stations in the state. A large-scale mock drill was conducted at Kalyani on Saturday to assess the preparedness of the security. According to an ER official, the Sealdah station witnesses nearly 12 lakh footfall on a normal day. However, during Durga Puja the rush of passengers shoots up to 15 lakh.

"We will conduct a meeting and decide how many more trains we will run during Durga Puja this year," the official added.