Groups of passengers blocked trains at eight stations in the Sealdah North section for hours on Monday demanding reservation of coaches for men on Matribhumi locals, inconveniencing lakhs of commuters during the morning rush hours and beyond.

The protest on Monday - the third in eight days - started at 7.45am and continued till 2pm. The protesters, all men, demanded that male passengers be allowed to travel on Matribhumi locals, which had been introduced as "women's only" trains.

Trouble started when a group of male passengers tried to board a Sealdah-bound Matribhumi local from Bongaon at Habra station around 7.45am.

Women on the train protested and pushed the men out. The male passengers then sat on the tracks demanding their share of coaches.

"The railways had taken a right decision by marking some of the coaches of the Matribhumi locals as "general". The trains often run with empty seats. But women created such a scene that the decision had to be reversed in three days. We will continue with the protest till some of the coaches are de-reserved again," said Subhankar Das, one of the protesters.

Some protesters even demanded a train exclusively for men, suggesting that it be called "Pitribhumi" local. A youth was seen scribbling the words "Pitribhumi local" with a piece of chalk on the stranded Matribhumi local.

As news about the blockade spread and train services went haywire, more and more people joined the protest and descended on the tracks at various stations in the section, including Bongaon, Gobordanga, Guma, Duttapukur, Bira, Ashokenagar and Machlandapur.

The blockade continued from 9.30am to 10am in Bongaon, 9.45am to 10.45am in Guma, 9.55am to 10.22am in Duttapukur, 8.25am to 11.40am in Bira and from 9am to 12.43pm in Machlandapur.

At some of the stations railway officials could persuade the protesters to lift the blockade, at others - Habra, Gobordanga and Ashokenagar - the tracks were cleared after police lathicharged the squatters.

The cop action prompted some of the protesters to retaliate by throwing bricks and stones at the men in uniform. Nine passengers and three policemen were injured in Habra and four passengers were hurt in Ashokenagar and Gobordanga. Among the injured cops was a sub-inspector of Habra police station, Nandan Mondal.

The blockade was lifted at 12.10pm in Habra, at noon in Ashokenagar and around 2pm in Gobordanga.

Twenty-nine local trains were cancelled and several others remained stranded for hours at various stations.

Trains started running on the entire stretch affected by blockades around 2pm but the ripple effects of the disruption continued throughout the day.

"We are requesting all passengers to not obstruct trains. Kindly help the railways to run the services smoothly. Damaging railway property will not help the situation...," the Eastern Railway said in a statement issued later on Monday.