Sealdah’s Service Resumes: Platform Extension Project Completed
Commuter Disruptions End as Sealdah Welcomes Extended Platforms for 12-Coach Trains
Sealdah Station’s Platform Extension Work Concludes Amid Commuter Chaos
After days of significant service disruptions, Sealdah station’s platform extension work has finally concluded on Sunday afternoon. The project, which aims to accommodate longer 12-coach trains by extending platforms 1 to 5, caused large-scale inconvenience, affecting tens of thousands of commuters.
The culmination of the work was not without incident, as a group of frustrated passengers, having waited overnight, vandalized a part of an enquiry counter at Sealdah station on Sunday morning. The lack of clear communication from railway authorities was cited as the trigger for the unrest, prompting the intervention of Railway Protection Force personnel to manage the situation.
The infrastructure upgrade, which began on Friday, led to the cancellation of numerous trains on the Sealdah north and main sections. Commuters faced extended intervals between trains and prolonged waits, with many trains stranded on the tracks for hours.
The ordeal was not limited to local travelers. Long-distance and express train passengers also suffered delays. Raju Adhikari, a 28-year-old resident of Delhi, experienced over an hour’s delay on the Rajdhani Express and an additional two-hour wait without updates for his connecting train to Bongaon. Similarly, Md Nematullah from Bihar endured a prolonged wait from Friday night for the Sealdah-Jaynagar special train, which was repeatedly rescheduled.
Sudipta Sen, a 50-year-old traveler to Guwahati, expressed his frustration directly to the RPF after receiving conflicting messages about his train’s departure time.
Despite these challenges, Eastern Railway highlighted the early completion of the non-Interlocking work, which was finished two hours ahead of the scheduled time. The first train to benefit from the newly extended platform, the Shantipur – Sealdah local, arrived at Platform No. 5 at 1.18 pm, marking the start of improved services for the future.
This project is a critical step in Eastern Railway’s commitment to enhancing commuter experience and is expected to significantly reduce congestion and improve punctuality in the long term. However, the immediate aftermath of the upgrade work has left many questioning the management of such essential projects and the communication strategies employed during times of service alterations.
