Railways aims to complete platform extension work at Sealdah Stn by June

Kolkata: Platform extension work at Sealdah Railway Station is being conducted to ensure that 12-coach EMU rakes in the suburban areas of Sealdah North and Main branches can be accommodated.

The EMU locals of the Sealdah South section have been upgraded from 9 to 12 coaches.

However, due to the length of platforms of Sealdah Main Section, which needs to be increased, 12-rake EMU coaches could not be plied.

The work of platform extension is being done in a phase-wise manner as Sealdah is a busy station and according to authorities taking traffic blocks and controlling movement of trains there would not be possible.

The extension of Platform number 4 of Sealdah Station has been partially completed while the extension works of Platform number 1, 2 and 3 are underway. They are expected to be completed by April, however, the authorities inform that it may take till May to complete the work related to overhead cables, non-interlocking for signal and yard layout changes.

“It is expected that by June, all platforms from 1 to 5 of Sealdah Main section will be able to run 12-coach EMU locals,” Eastern Railway stated.

Milind K Deouskar, General Manager of Eastern Railway, has directed all concerned departments to expedite the extension work of the platforms at Sealdah and make efforts to run 12-coach EMU locals in maximum number for the convenience of passengers.

The addition of three more coaches would increase the convenience of travel and reduce crowds in train coaches of these sections. With extra coaches being added, the Railway claims that in the Sealdah North and Main section, an average of 330 more passengers can be comfortably seated in each local train and around 1,200 additional passengers can travel in case of standing journey. According to officials, during peak hours, trains with 12 coaches are running in the Sealdah North branch. Out of 134 pairs of EMU trains running under Sealdah South Branch, 132 have 12 coaches but in the case of Sealdah North, out of 186 UP trains, 88 are 12 coaches trains and out of 188 Down trains, 88

have 12 coaches.