The West Bengal government has requested the railway board on Friday (August 28) to resume metro and local train services in the state in a limited manner. Home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay has sent a letter to the Railway Board requesting to resume local trains and metro services in the state in compliance with the protocol.
The Centre is likely to allow the resumption of metro services from September when the fourth phase of unlocking economic activities will begin.
According to sources, the letter further mentioned that if the railway services are resumed, the Railway Board should decide how the train and metro will run while maintaining the safety of the passengers in compliance with the hygiene rules.
On August 26, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the state has no issues if local train and metro rail services are resumed. She even allowed resumption of flight services from six cities to Kolkata that had been suspended since July 6.
However, no official permission has been received from the Railway Ministry yet. Railway and metro authorities said that the services will start only if the necessary government instructions are received.
However, the officials think that the number of trains and metros should be made less than before with a smaller number of workers to avoid crowding. Metro authorities can seek the cooperation of the state to control the crowd.
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