In a major relief to commuters, the Eastern Railway is aiming to run 12-coach EMU locals at all the five platforms of Sealdah Main section by June.
Notably, almost all the EMU locals of Sealdah South section now have 12 coaches. However, not all trains on the Sealdah Main and North sections that are Sealdah-Ranaghat-Krishnanagar and Sealdah-Bangaon sections, can be operated with 12 coaches till date. To address the issue, Eastern Railway is carrying out the extension works on four platforms at Sealdah station to accommodate 12-coach EMU rakes in the suburban areas of Sealdah North and Main branches.
The extension work of platform numbers, one to four, was started by the zonal railway in February. As informed by the ER, the extension works of platform numbers 1, 2 and 3 are being carried out and are expected to be completed by this month. The works on the platform 4 of Sealdah station has been partially completed. “However, it will take about May to complete the work of related overhead cables and non-interlocking for signal and yard layout changes. Then there is the work of increasing the length of Platform 5 in Sealdah. 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,” informed the chief public relations officer of the ER, Kausik Mitra.
The general manager of the ER, Milind K Deouskar is said to have directed various departments to expedite the extension work of the platforms at Sealdah and make efforts to run 12-coach EMU locals in maximum numbers.