Protests at Sodepur station disrupt train services

Kolkata: Train services were disrupted in Sealdah main section for about three hours on Saturday with commuters staging protests at Sodepur station against alleged irregularity in train services during a modernisation work.

The protest began since 10 am during which the agitators staged a blockade.

A Railway police official said the protestors ransacked the station master's cabin and also indulged in stone-pelting incidents.

The blockade was, however, lifted after about three hours, Superintendent of Railway Police, Ashesh Biswas said.

"This protest was completely unexpected. We had declared scheduled modernisation of interlocking system from September 7 till September 10. We had publicised it through various channels including advertisments," Eastern Railway spokesperson Ravi Mahapatra said.

"If passengers do not cooperate, how can modernisation and safety work be completed?" he said.

The passengers also said wrong announcements had compounded their hardship.

In the last two days, about 130 EMU locals had been cancelled mostly running on the shorter routes, the passengers said.