A large number of daily commuters, residing on the southern part of Singur, are finding it difficult to purchase local train tickets, since the southern side of railway ticket counter, adjacent to reservation counter, was closed during the beginning of the pandemic.
The commuters complained that the counter has since not been opened.
More than a lakh people reside at different villages on the southern side of Singur. According to railways estimate every day nearly 22,000 commuters travel to and fro from Singur. Commuters from the southern side have to climb up the steep railway footbridge to reach the only railway ticket counter located on the northern side of the station.
There is a mad rush to the ticket counter during peak office hours. Many passengers then have to rush to the middle platform or the platform in the southern side to avail the local train. Senior citizens, children and the sick are the most affected, say commuters. There have requested to the concerned railway authorities to re-open the southern ticket counter but of no avail.
The president of All Bengal Citizens Forum Sailen Parbat said, we have submitted a memorandum to the concerned railway authority demanding the prompt re-opening of the southern side ticket counter. The daily commuters from Singur are all set to organise a protest agitation if the railways remain indifferent to the justified demand of the residents of Singur, said Mr Parbat.