The Mamata Banerjee government on Tuesday issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for suburban train services, which are scheduled to resume on Wednesday.

The SOP was drawn up after home secretary H. K. Dwivedi held a video-conference with the district magistrates and superintendents of police of the districts where suburban trains would run such as Howrah, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Hooghly, East Burdwan, East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Nadia.

According to the SOP, passengers will have to mandatorily wear masks and the railways will have to make available an adequate number of trains keeping in mind public health constraints in the existing situation.

Entry and exit points will be demarcated for movement of passengers and all the exit and entry points may not be made operational in order to handle movement of passengers in a proper manner.

The Government Railway Police and the state police will work, in association with the Railway Protection Force, to control crowds.

The railways have been advised to open ticket counters at the earliest so that passengers can buy or renew monthly tickets and a rush for daily tickets can be avoided.

All passengers have to produce tickets while entering the stations to avoid unnecessary gathering.

Train compartments and toilets at stations have to be sanitised at regular intervals for the safety of passengers.

The railways have been advised to ensure that only a certain number of passengers are allowed on rains so Covid protocols can be maintained.

The state government as well as the railways will continue with the publicity measures to make passengers aware of the dos and don’ts during their journey.

The state government will also arrange for enough transport facilities at the stations to disperse passengers at the earliest.