After a budget bonanza, Mamata Banerjee has gifted the city a Puja package of 200-odd special trains.

Eastern Railway will roll out 120 “Puja specials” between September 16 and November 15, while South Eastern Railway will operate around 84 special trains between August and November, the railway minister announced on Sunday afternoon.

The special trains for this Puja are nearly 50 per cent more than what former railway minister Lalu Prasad had rolled out last year.

According to officials, 34 bi-weekly superfast special trains will run between Sealdah and Delhi; 14 weekly superfast trains between Sealdah and Hardwar; 14 weekly special trains between Sealdah and Gorakhpur; 12 weekly air-conditioned, superfast trains between Howrah and New Jalpaiguri; 14 trains between Howrah and Kathgodam; 18 weekly superfast trains between Sealdah and Delhi, and 14 weekly superfast trains between Sealdah and New Jalpaiguri.

Reservation on some of these trains opened on July 10.

Mamata also flagged off the first ladies’ special from Howrah to Bandel on Sunday. The train will run twice daily during the morning and evening peak hours from Monday till Saturday.

A similar train between Sealdah and Kalyani is on the cards. “I have asked my senior officers to work on the proposal,” said the railway minister.

Three of the 12 superfast Duronto trains proposed in the rail budget might start running from next month. “We are trying our best to start the Howrah-Delhi, Howrah-Mumbai and Delhi-Pune trains in August. These trains will take two hours less than the Rajdhani Express to reach their destinations. However, the fares will be less than those for Rajdhani,” Mamata said.

Referring to scepticism about some of the announcements made in the rail budget, she said: “The general impression is that half the projects announced in the budget do not see the light of day. But I will make sure that all projects and recommendations are implemented.”

Mamata said building infrastructure was her first priority. “Employment generation will be an easier task once infrastructure is ready,” she added.

The railway minister also announced that she was considering setting up a rail station near the beach resort of Mandarmani in East Midnapore. All trains headed for Digha will stop there.

“We want to make all tourist destinations of Bengal accessible by rail,” she said.