June 22: The railways today extended till June 26 the bar on night trains that pass through the Maoist-hit areas of Bengal.

It means several long-distance trains bound for western India from Howrah will continue to leave early in the morning instead of night.

Among them are the Mumbai-bound Jnaneswari Express, whose Maoist-caused derailment on May 28 had prompted the move. It will leave Howrah at 4.30am instead of 10.55pm. The Howrah-Mumbai Mail via Nagpur will leave at 5am instead of 8:15pm, the Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express will leave at 5.30am instead of 9.55pm and the Howrah-Ahmedabad Express will leave at 4am instead of 11.55pm.

The Howrah-bound Jnaneswari, Samarsata Express, Mumbai Mail, Azad Hind Express and Porbandar Express will leave eight hours behind schedule so that they do not reach Jharsuguda before 4am. The Howrah-Adra-Chakradharpur and the Howrah-Adra-Bokaro passenger trains will remain cancelled till June 26.