City drenched, commuters stranded: Heavy rainfall cripples transport

Kolkata: Overnight heavy rainfall on Tuesday disrupted metro, rail and road transport across Kolkata and adjoining areas, leaving thousands of commuters stranded amid widespread waterlogging.

Metro Railway suspended operations between Shahid Khudiram and Maidan after waterlogging inundated the mid-section between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) and Rabindra Sarobar. Truncated services ran between Dakshineswar and Maidan from the morning, while limited services operated between Shahid Khudiram and Masterda Surya Sen (Bansdroni) stations. Officials confirmed that full through-services between Shahid Khudiram and Dakshineswar resumed at 5.38 pm after pumping cleared the tracks. Eastern Railway reported extensive flooding across both Howrah and Sealdah divisions, with tracks, yards, cabins and car sheds submerged. Suburban and express train services were severely hit from early morning. At Howrah, Vande Bharat trains to New Jalpaiguri, Gaya and Jamalpur departed after long delays, along with the Dhanbad, Amritsar Mail, Saraighat, Raxaul Mithila and Agniveena Express, while many local trains were cancelled.

In Sealdah, operations on the North and Main line limped on, but South section services collapsed with platforms under water. Most trains were forced to short-terminate at Ballygunge. The Sealdah–Jangipur train was cancelled, and Circular Railway services were completely suspended. Train services from Sealdah (South) station resumed at about 7:00 pm on Tuesday.

At Kolkata station, at least nine long-distance trains—including the Hazarduari Express, Haldibari Express, Balurghat Express, Ara Garib Rath and several Lalgola-bound services—were cancelled. Others such as the Jammu Tawi, Amritsar, Sairang and Purvanchal Express were rescheduled.

Road transport almost came to a standstill as buses crawled through flooded streets and taxis were few and far between, leaving commuters stranded at major intersections. Auto-rickshaws were mostly absent, while app-cab and bike fares shot up sharply, though availability remained scarce. At Prince Anwar Shah Road crossing, many desperate commuters boarded small goods carriers like the Tata Ace, paying about Rs 100 for a cramped, standing ride to their offices.