Students disrupt train services on Sealdah-Barrackpore route

Kolkata: Train services were disrupted in the Sealdah-Barrackpore section on Monday for two-and-a-half hours as students protested the fee hike for railway recruitment examinations, a senior Eastern Railway official said.

Thousands of passengers were stranded at different stations on the busy Sealdah main section, with trains to destinations like Kalyani, Ranaghat and Santipur unable to ply after students blocked the tracks to protest the increase in exam fees for Group C and Level 1 (Group D) posts in the Indian Railways.

The protesters disrupted services at North 24 Parganas district's Agarpara railway station around 4 p.m. that led to cancellation of a local train while nine other EMUs were delayed by at least 25 minutes, the official said.

The services resumed at 6.42 p.m. after the blockade was removed.