With pandal-hoppers already making a beeline to venues to catch glimpses of Disneyland, Ram Mandir, Somnath Temple of Gujarat, Jain Temple of Maharashtra or even Chandrayaan-3, the Sealdah division of the Eastern Railway has decided to operate 18 additional services of night suburban special trains from Panchami to Navami.
The services, according to the ER, are to be run on daily basis having stoppages at all stations en route on the nights of 19/20, 20/21, 21/22, 22/23 and 23/24 October.
The trains that are to be run on these nights include Sealdah-Ranaghat Local, Seal- dah-Kalyani Local, Sealdah- Bongaon Local, Sealdah- Dankuni Local, Sealdah- Baruipur Local and Sealdah Budge Budge Local.
The division is also to operate one Sealdah-Baruipur passenger special at 5.35 pm on the five days, including those of Durga Puja and Laxmi Puja. The divisional railway is also to follow Sunday running for all Suburban trains till 2pm on 21, 22, 23, 24 and 28 Octo- ber for trains starting from originating station
After 2pm, starting from the originating station, all trains are to continue their services having stoppages at all stations including halts and flags en route.
Apart from additional services, the division has also decided to temporarily suspend the stoppage of all up Kalyani Simanta Local at Kalyani Ghoshpara flag station to avoid any untoward incident.
The decision has been taken by the railway admin- istration in consultation with local competent authority. Likewise, from Panchami to Navami 31192 Kalyani Simanta – Naihati Local would be short terminated at Kalyani at night. The division has also announce cancellation of 13 EMU local trains from 20 to 23 October. According to the ER, 33863 Sealdah-Bongaon Local would also be rescheduled during the peak puja days.
Notably, like the Eastern Railway, the South Eastern Railway is also considering plans to operate additional local train services during the peak festive period.
For those dependent on buses for commuting, the state government has also decided to run night bus services during the peak festival days.
The state transport department is to run around 500 buses during the peak festi- val nights.
In sync with the state government, the private and minibus operators also have announced night services from Shashthi to Navami. Around 4,000 private and minibuses are to ply on the city roads on these nights