On march day, catching a train was akin to taking int’l flight: Passengers

Kolkata: For those heading to catch a train at Howrah station on Tuesday, it was akin to taking an international flight from the airport, as they “checked into” the platform two or three hours in advance. But unlike for foreign flights, they chose to leave home before time to avoid being stranded on the way owing to the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ by Chhatra Samaj. But there were some, who were not so lucky, got caught in the stir on the road and missed their trains.TOI on Tuesday afternoon found the area near the iconic ‘Boro Ghori’ at Howrah station teeming with long-distance passengers, who had reached hours in advance. Rajesh Rawani from Kasba reached Howrah station around 2pm though the Rajdhani Express he was to board was to depart at 4.50pm. “This is for the first time that I have come to a railway station this early. I have done so for international air travel,” said Rawani, who reached Esplanade by an app cab and then took the under-river metro to the station.

Another Rajdhani passenger, Tapan Saha, said, “It usually does not take more than half-an-hour to reach Howrah station from my house on Turf Road near Bhowanipore. But I left home almost two hours in advance.” Strand Road was shut as early as 10.30 am. Vidyasagar Setu was shut for 45 minutes later. Nivedita Setu was the only link through which people could travel to Howrah at one point. Public transport to Howrah was practically shut for around eight hours. Cabs heading to Howrah charged a premium. “We had to take major detours. Approaching Howrah Maidan became a major challenge in the afternoon,” said Sanjay singh, a taxi driver, who asked for Rs 800 from a passenger from Dunlop.Nadia’s Amit Kumar Biswas, manager of a public sector bank’s branch at Chandrakona, had a harrowing time. “I come to Dum Dum and take North-South Metro to reach Esplanade, from where I catch a bus for Chandrakona. But no bus was available. I took the metro to Howrah station, but there, a Midnapore-bound local train just pulled out. I could not join work,” he said.Patna-bound Vande Bharat left Howrah at 3.50pm but Palash Sarkar from Basirhat, along with his wife and son, reached the station by 1pm. “We left home early. From Sealdah, we took a taxi for Rs 200. We reached here in the nick of time as I heard the road was shut just after,” he said. But some, despite leaving for the station early, reached late and missed their trains. Garia resident Saptarshi Chatterjee was to board Rajdhani but his taxi was caught in traffic jams. “By the time I reached the station, the train had left,” he said. As violence spread across a large part of central Kolkata, traffic between Esplanade and Howrah and even Sealdah came to a halt for several hours. Most commuters between the twin cities took the metro and the ferry. Buses headed to Howrah were forced to terminate at Dalhousie.
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