Kolkata: Eastern Railway recorded over 2.6 crore passengers in the Sealdah division during the puja days, an increase of around 33% when compared with last year’s.During the festive period, Sealdah, Dum Dum, Bidhannagar Road, Sonarpur, Ballygunge, Ranaghat and Kalyani stations witnessed higher footfall. To manage the rush, 266 special trains were operated from Sashti to Dashami, according to Rajeev Saxena, DRM of Sealdah.“Among these stations, Kalyani saw a 14% increase in passenger movement. Sealdah station alone clocked 32 lakh passengers during the puja days, nearly double what it had last year. We have witnessed a significant uptick in the number of commuters availing of suburban railway services for pandal-hopping in the city,” said a railway official.With a focus on cleanliness, the railway division disposed of about 120 tonnes of waste across major stations, including Ballygunge, Bidhannagar, Dum Dum and Tollygunge. Of them, Sealdah station alone saw disposal of 16 tonnes of waste during the puja days.
