Kolkata, Nov. 2 -- Sealdah Division will operate six pairs of additional late-night EMU special trains on the intervening nights of November 8-9, 9-10 and 10-11 to facilitate pandal-hoppers and manage the expected passenger rush during Kali Puja and Diwali.

The special services will connect Sealdah with Dankuni, Barasat, Ranaghat, Bangaon, Hasnabad, and Barrackpore. All the special trains will stop at every station along their respective routes. To manage the festive rush at Naihati Junction, special platform arrangements will remain in place from November 8 to 13. No trains will be handled on Platform No. 1 between 2 pm and midnight during this period. Instead, services will operate from Platforms 5 and 6.

As a contingency measure, one EMU rake, along with crew, will remain on standby at Sealdah (North), Ranaghat and Barasat to operate additional services if required.

All suburban train services, including AC EMU locals, will follow the weekday timetable on November 8, which falls on a Sunday. Accordingly, AC EMU locals on the Sealdah-Krishnanagar City route, which normally operate from Monday to Saturday, will also run on Sunday in place of the scheduled services.

Sealdah Divisional Railway Manager Rajeev Saxena said additional late-night services, standby rakes with crew and special platform arrangements had been planned to ensure smooth passenger movement and minimise inconvenience.

Meanwhile, Eastern Railway will attach additional coaches to five popular express trains on a temporary basis from November 4 to 15 to accommodate the festive rush.

The Howrah-Jamalpur-Howrah Kavi Guru Express, Howrah-Rampurhat-Howrah Sahid Express and Howrah-Azimganj-Howrah Ganadevta Express will each get an additional General Second Class coach, taking their composition to 14 coaches from 13.

The Howrah-Mokama-Howrah Express will get an additional Sleeper Class coach, increasing its composition from 12 to 13. The Howrah-Katihar-Howrah Express will also get an additional General Second Class coach, taking its composition to 18 from 17.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.