Howrah platform extension blocked

KOLKATA: The South Eastern Railway''sambitious plan to increase the number of platforms at Howrah Station toaccommodate more trains has hit a roadblock.State transportdepartment officials feel that the plan will lead to an increase in traffic onHowrah Bridge, which has already reached its saturation point. The departmenthas taken this stand after receiving reports from a team of KMDAexperts.Senior SER officials met Chief Minister BuddhadebBhattacharjee last month and discussed the plan with him.They alsotold him that developing a mega terminal at Majherhat or any other place wouldtake around 10 years. "So, during the interim period, we ought to build moreplatforms at Howrah to cope with the increasing volume of passangers," officialssay.The two complexes at Howrah Station have 21 platforms atpresent. In the old complex, platforms 1 to 10 mainly handle local andlongdistance trains of the Eastern Railway. Platforms 11 to 15 handle SER localtrains and 16 and 17 are used exclusively by the ER for its parcel services.Platforms 18 to 21 are earmarked for SER longdistance trains.KMDAexperts have expressed their concern over increasing the load on Howrah Bridge.They have told the transport department that no additional pressure ispermissible on the bridge."Howrah Bridge has a carrying capacity of60,000 vehicles per day. The number of vehicles has already crossed 80,000,which is alarming. Any increase of vehicular pressure on the bridge would bedangerous. So, we are against an increase in the number of platforms at HowrahStation," said a senior transport official.