Kolkata: In a bid to cater extra rush of passengers during Durga Puja, the South Eastern Railway has decided to run Weekly AC Special Train between Howrah and Yesvantpur from Oct 19.
"02863 Howrah-Yesvantpur Weekly AC Special will run from Howrah every Monday with effect from October 19, 2020. In the return direction, 02864 Yesvantpur-HowrahWeekly AC Special will leave Yesvantpur every Wednesday with effect from October 21, 2020," said an official of South Eastern Railway.
While protests over the resumption of local train services have been reported from the suburbs of Kolkata over the past few days, the Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway have increased surveillance at different stations.
Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta had also written to Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal urging resumption of local and suburban trains in West Bengal.
Rail Bachao Sangram Committee has also decided to take out a bike rally to protest against the central government's privatisation policies at Fairlie place on October 16.
"On Friday, we will take out bike rally to protest against Indian Railways' decision of allowing private passenger train operators to run 151 trains on 109 routes," said Dilip Dutta Chowdhury, president of Eastern Railway Men's Union (ERMU).
Meanwhile, Kolkata Metro Railway announced that senior citizens will not require e-passes to travel in metro with the authorities allowing them to board trains by showing their Id cards (Pan Card, Aadhar Card, Driving License, Passport or Voter Id) from Oct 14.
"From October 14, 2020, they (senior citizens) can avail Metro services throughout the day using their id cards (no e- passes required). The travel restriction from 11.30 to 16.30 will no longer be there," said Kolkata Metro Railway chief public relations officer Indrani Banerjee.