175 local trains cancelled due to blockades by bandh

Train services were disrupted in the suburbs and neighbouring districts of the city by supporters of a nationwide general strike called by 10 trade unions on Wednesday, Railway officials said here.

At least 175 local trains were cancelled in the Sealdah and Howrah divisions of Eastern Railway (ER) owing to the blockades put up by supporters of the strike, its spokesman said.

In the Howrah-Kharagpur section of South Eastern Railway, there were blockades at some places for durations from 10 minutes to half an hour, but no train was cancelled, its spokesman Sanjoy Ghosh said.

Sealdah division of Eastern Railway was the most affected with cancellation of 128 local trains since morning, ER spokesman Nikhil Chakraborty said.

In its Howrah division, 47 more EMU locals were cancelled and 10 mail and express trains were detained enroute, he said.

Train services in all the divisions were normalised by 1.00 pm after the blockades were lifted, Chakraborty said.

At some places like Ashoknagar and Habra in Sealdah North section, banana leaves were thrown onto overhead electrical wires, while railway sleepers were placed on the tracks at Deula and Magrahat stations in Sealdah south section, to stop train movement.

These obstructions were removed by railway officials, he said.