Kolkata, May 5 (PTI) All local, suburban and EMU train services of Eastern and South Eastern railways in West Bengal will remain cancelled from Thursday after the state government announced suspension of operations amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, officials said.

An ER spokesman said that other special trains, parcel trains and freight trains will continue to run as per schedule.

The suburban EMU services will remain cancelled from Thursday till further advice of the state government, an SER official said.

Regular passengers of local and suburban trains expressed concern at the cancellation of services, claiming that they will have great difficulty in reaching their workplaces.

Some, including hawkers and owners of small businesses, claimed that the cancellation of the train services would mean a loss of livelihood for them.

The railways advised passengers of long-distance special trains to strictly adhere to COVID protocols notified by the state governments and maintain COVID-appropriate behaviour scrupulously.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)