West Bengal: Eastern Railway set to run full fleet to decongest trains

KOLKATA: Eastern Railway (ER) is ready to operate its entire fleet of local trains as services resume from Sunday. Officials of ER, which runs the majority of suburban services in the state, ruled out a phased restart this time, unlike last year. Services were suspended on May 6, when the second wave struck.
Suburban train services, suspended for the public since May 6, will resume on Sunday with the state on Friday allowing 50% of passenger strength. “Seats can’t be regulated on local trains because they are not reserved. We expect the state government to help us maintain the 50% capacity,” a senior Railways official told TOI.
ER spokesperson Ekalabya Chakraborty said: “We are prepared to operate our entire fleet of EMUs. It may take a day or two to go full strength, but most trains will be back on the tracks by the end of next week.”