West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. File pic/PTI
Citing a surge in the COVID-19 cases across the country, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has blocked the entry of all daily trains from Maharashtra and four other states that have been worst hit by the pandemic.
Besides Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh are the other states from where trains to West Bengal have been temporarily suspended.
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According to an official note by the railways, a letter from the West Bengal chief secretary stated that in view the growing COVID-19 infections, the state government is not willing to permit entry of daily trains -- Mumbai CSMT-Howrah, Howrah-Mumbai CSMT, Ahmedabad-Howrah and Howrah-Ahmedabad, among others. Instead, the trains will now run only once a week, starting July 1, the note added.
Those who had booked tickets in advance will get the refund.
The West Bengal government was at loggerheads with the Indian Railways earlier as well, when the IR had started the Shramik special trains. Banerjee had called the trains Corona Express, and said that the IR was bringing people from hotspot areas in huge numbers, which was a huge public health issue.
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